Source: Bounce.com
Keyboard player Satake Moyo announced he is leaving Nirgilis, citing creative differences as the reason for the split. Satake was one of the founding members of the band, which will continue as a quartet. Satake also announced plans to form a new band.
Let me be upfront about some personal taste — I wasn’t too fond of Nirgilis’ single, “King/Lemon/Ice Skate for Life”.
It’s not that they’re bad songs — I just didn’t think they rose to the level for a single release, especially compared to some of the band’s previous singles.
(Notably, “Vuna”, which didn’t make the album cut. My guess is a licensing issue — it was released on the band’s own Chukuri label before Nirgilis signed to Toy’s Factory.)
“King” and “Ice Skate for Life” anchor the first half of Nirgilis’ second album, New Standard, and for that reason, it was difficult to warm up to it.
Sure, “Byosoku Highway” does a great job of opening the album, while “Eregiba” mixes folk guitar, funky drumming and synthetic textures quite nicely. And “Mayonaka no Schneider” is one fun, quirky tune.
But some bands feel the need to stash singles at the start of the album — which Nirgilis did with its debut album Tennis — and it has a tendency to backfire if the singles aren’t terribly strong.
Then something happens for the second half of New Standard — Nirgilis stretches out.
“Bourgeois Brain” is a dischordant piece with some off-key vocals by singer Iwata Acchu and producer Hoppy Kamiyama. Iwata screeches with total abandon, and it’s grating in a good way.
On “Akai Asayuke”, members of Art-School join Nirgilis in evoking the spirit of Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” for the song’s conclusion. It’s a pretty dramatic moment.
For the rest of the album, Nirgilis employs its whimsical mix of programmed beats and post-punk guitar, but this time out, it’s scaled back, perhaps even introspective.
“Subako” employs an acoustic guitar and only a few synthetic flourishes, but the rhythm section provides a sturdy foundation. “Mule” moves at a leisurely pace, building up with a string orchestra toward the end.
New Standard shows Nirgilis maturing with its distinctive sound, but the writing itself doesn’t seem to possess the same kind of wild catchiness of its last album.
Once Nirgilis can build on the ideas of New Standard with the hooks of Tennis, it will yield an incredible work.
Source: Bounce.com
Niriglis will release its second album, titled New Standard, on May 26. The band worked with such producers as Ken Ishii and Hoppy Kamiyama on the album, and members of Art-School appear as guest musicians. The sleeve design will be done by Groovision, who also did the design for Nirgilis’ single, “Mayonaka no Schneider”.
So. New Wave is back, and it’s called electroclash. Analog is, like, cool and so is playing on keyboards with fewer kilobytes of RAM than a hair dryer.
Never mind that archaic is as archaic does.
Nirgilis is not New Wave, and as such, is not even electroclash. And somehow, its combination of quirky chords, heavy programming and shoegazer guitar keys into the punk-meets-disco aesthetic New Wave attempted to forge.
In other words, Nirgilis sounds fun.
The brainchild of keyboardist Moyo Satake, the band formed in 1993 but didn’t release a single recording till seven years later.
When it did, it unleashed a distinctive sound both familiar and new. Listening to the opening track “Thunder” feels like piecing together a puzzle.
A bit of My Bloody Valentine in the guitars? A bit of house and electronica in the drums? A bit of Luminous Orange and Claude Debussy in the harmonies? Maybe all or maybe none.
Whatever the case, Nirgilis can accomodate quite a number of plug-ins.
Hip-hop? The reprise of “Thunder II” with rapper Moyunijumo of Illrime shows Nirgilis is good as any breakbeat record. Big guitars? “Young Halo” finds the band channeling its inner Cure and Sonic Youth. Ethereal slow songs? Gotcha covered on “Juju” and “Kiss”.
Nirgilis sounds best when its combining whimsical melodies with canned beats. It’s all right to make funny contortions while listening to “Koke Tissue” or “Oh, Do Re Mi”.
Singer Iwata Acchu possesses a compelling, airy voice, and while Moyo’s programming is the biggest presence in the band’s sound, the contributions by bassist Kurihara Noboru, drummer Inadera Yuki and guitarist Ito Ko-ki are no less important.
Inadera’s drumming on “Akari” and “Young Halo” is especially crucial, while “Kiss” finds Moyo taking a back seat to his bandmates.
Tennis is a remarkable, confident debut, familiar without employing anachronisms, new without feeling too alien.