Jinkaku Radio transcends language barriers
Tom Korp and Chris Dillon (http://www.loyolagreyhound.com)
I'll be the first to admit that listening to Japanese music is an unusually frustrating pastime, due in no small part to the scarcity (and added expense) of import albums and singles from the Land of the Rising Sun. Not to mention that Nihongo isn't the easiest language to get into, even though its staccato rhythms and overt consonance produce some astounding vocal effects. Check out the chorus breakdown on "Shiki no Uta" by J-Pop crooner Minmi -- it's simply phenomenal."That's fine," you may very well be wondering, "but what the hell is the point of listening to a band that you can't even understand?"
Touché, salesman -- while I admit that the language barrier does present its fair share of contextual difficulties, the music (both instrumental and vocal) of certain foreign bands more than makes up for the listener's inability to understand what is being sung. The stirring Icelandic and Hopelandic drones of Sigur Rós, anyone?
With that apology/primer out of the way, let's get down to brass tacks. This week's review focuses on Japanese rockers Jinkaku Radio and their recent single, Akui ("malice").
A self-produced and eerily androgynous four-piece from Kanagawa prefecture in central Japan, Jinkaku Radio sports a mix of heady bass-lines, ambient piano melodies, pulsing guitar elements, snappy percussion, and melancholic lyricism -- a combination that should be no stranger to fans of England's Muse. While certainly not for everyone, Jinkaku Radio's dense instrumentals and strident vocals should resonate with fans of latter-day hair-metal and other such grandiose rock.
Despite Jinkaku Radio's similarities to such common rock movements, the defamiliarizing aspect (i.e., foreign language) of their work adds a whole new layer to the tried-and-true formula of complexly-composed rock music. Oddly enough, it is this relative inaccessibility that engenders a sense of "outsider appreciation" -- that is, the language barrier tends to promote aesthetic and emotional responses more than a literal or textual understanding.
In both tracks on the Akui single -- the title track and side dish "Buranko" ("swing") -- Jinkaku Radio sticks to driving rhythms and wave-like choruses, varying little from the style they established for themselves with their 2003 full-length, Shouko ("proof"). Again, on this end of the Pacific, Jinkaku Radio's lyrics tend to be more aesthetic than informative (albeit, fan-translations are available on-line).
The end result of this linguistic defamiliarization is a separation of music from lyric, effectively transforming lead singer/guitarist Yuuki's voice from a simple conveyance to an emphatic musical instrument -- it's less about what he sings than how he sings it. As for the "how" of things, Yuuki's lilting tenor adds unusual depth to his guitar riffs, alternately contrasting and complimenting Rai's underlying chords, Shin's spotless percussion, and bassist Naoki's fantastic runs (he even solos on occasion).
Open-minded fans of well-coordinated rock would be wise to hear what Jinkaku Radio has to offer, though most will probably be turned off by the "inconvenience" of a foreign tongue. Those who stick it out should find themselves duly rewarded.