Musicwhore.org Archive The original

When a band moves from the indies to the majors, a bigger budget usually means a better recording.

It’s not much different for Nananine. The Fukuoka City quartet’s indie EPs sported great songs that deserved stronger mixes and higher fidelity.

While Nananine’s Warner Bros. debut, 12e12, does indeed feature a more polished sound, something got lost on the way to the big leagues.

The higher fidelity reveals Kawaseki Hiroshi’s limitations as a singer. The quiet intro to “Hummingbird” shines a harsh light on Kawaseki’s raspy voice. Somehow, his singing lacks the gut-anchored honesty of his indie performances.

Even though it sounds like he’s emoting on “Oorii”, Kawaseki gets lost in the mix, the full force of his voice undercut instead of enhanced.

The bigger studio budget doesn’t dampen the rest of the band’s spirited performances, but at the same time, it doesn’t capture the power of its live performances either.

“Flange” is a decent enough alt-rock song on recording, but performed live, it sounded far more impressive.

Half way through 12e12, Nananine trots out its strongest material. “Stroke” is the band’s masterpiece to date, a solid four-on-the-floor beat anchoring the song’s attractive hooks.

“Swing Hawk” alternates between a noisy compound meter and a straight-forward backbeat. “Minnie” finishes the album on an acoustic note, intimate and rough-hewned.

Although 12e12 is a decent debut, it’s still short of capturing Nananine at its most powerful. The higher fidelity is a nice touch, but now it’s a matter of getting the band in its best element.

OK — let’s get the comparrison blurb out of the way.

Nananine is the coin’s flipside to soulsberry.

There. Said it. Now let’s prove it.

Both bands traffic in a beefy, power chord-driven sound akin to Fountains of Wayne or a more polished Weezer, but Nananine edges precariously to the overused “emo” tag.

First off, singer Kawaseki Hiroshi has a less trained, more nasal voice than soulsberry’s Ishizaki Tomohiro. While Kawaseki’s voice may not have Ishizaki’s immediate appeal, Kawaseki definitely puts in a more emotional performance.

Check out Kawaseki’s workout on “Chasing Becky”. He practically makes his voice hoarse bellowing over Ono Kentaro’s energetic guitar work.

Nananine’s songs are also much brighter than soulsberry’s.

There’s no mistaking the exuberence of “Courtney” or “Orange” on Nananine’s first mini-album, Schnaff-rhythm for anything else.

soulsberry, on the other hand, might darken the edges a bit.

Although these differences seem subtle on paper — or rather, pixels — it becomes glaringly apparent in execution.

True, Nananine and soulsberry are aesthetic soulmates — right down to album covers — but scratch beneath the surface, and Nananine’s unpolished performance comes across as edgy and sweet.

Unfortunately, Nananine hasn’t quite graduated to the kind of studio budget that put viscera into soulsberry’s The End of Vacation.

If Nananine could hook up with a producer that could capture the essence of its live performance, the Fukuoka City quartet would definitely yield the album it has in them.

The Brilliant Green had better watch out — soulsberry and Nananine definitely have all the elements to snatch Kawase and co.’s alt-pop crown.