Idol Watch #12: March/April 2022
Rounding up the best idol songs from the past two months, featuring You'll Melt More, cinder-ella, PRIKIL and more, plus a discussion on Bellring Shoujo Heart
Hi! Welcome to Idol Watch, a bi-monthly companion newsletter to This Side of Japan that’s all about Japanese idols! You can check out the January/February issue here and previous issues in the archives.
The Bellring Shoujo Heart discography represents the absolute lawlessness taking place in the idol scene during the first half of the 2010s—a period remembered by fans and followers as the idol sengoku period. Many groups during the era threw anything and everything at the wall to see what would stick, and BellHa (their abbreviated moniker used by fans) sang over some of the most fascinating pop ephemera to inspire an idol record at the time, from rockabilly to surf rock, ‘60s psychedelia to Britrock. Their last album, 2016’s BEYOND, stands practically as an art-pop style guide for new groups to reference if they want to carry the torch and continue to twist the mold of idol music.
Though, let me clarify: Singing would be too generous to describe the vocal takes on BellHa records. Even the group’s producer would say it takes a bit for that roughness to grow into some kind of charm, and not everyone admittedly has the patience nor the will power to sit through the lack of notes being hit. The records, however, tell half the story. We highly recommend you watch the live footage for the full experience as the stage erupts into an off-the-cuff basement punk set, vocals and choreography abandoned by the idols in favor of shrieking while throwing herself into the crowd.
With Bellring Shoujo Heart’s catalog available now on streaming services, it’s a perfect time to re-introduce one of the most influential idol groups of the 2010s. I’m joined by my friend Myrna to talk about the music of BellHa, the group’s former place in the idol scene and why they were so beloved when they were around. Myrna also created a Spotify playlist for you to further enjoy the catalog. Happy listening!
Myrna is an avid music fan that focuses mostly on underground idols and K-pop. She constantly blabbers about it on Twitter. She has previously worked with me for The Conversation: Migma Shelter.
Ryo: When producer Kouji Tanaka announced Bellring Shoujo Heart’s catalog being available soon on streaming services, he offered a cute little disclaimer at the end of it thinking about the rollout possibly introducing the group’s music to a new audience: “You’ll get used to it after three days, so it’d be great if you listen to a lot.” He was referring to the lack of polish to the idols’ vocals—“their voices were real but in a, how can I say, shocking way,” he explained his reaction after revisiting the group’s songs—and it’s this reputation as a pack of tone-deaf and rhythm-less performers that looms largest for the group to this day as they celebrate the 10th anniversary of their debut this year. With that in mind, what were your first impressions with this group, Myrna? How did you get introduced to BellHa, and what did you first think about them?
Myrna: I cannot say Mr. Tanaka was wrong with his comments about the group’s performance, and I admit that my first impressions of them were not as positive as they are now. I first found out about Bellring by their participation in what I like to call the “BiS ‘nerve’ challenge”. Something about the group grabbed my attention (probably how cool I thought their now iconic costumes looked) so I decided to check them out.
Being a fan of alternative idols, I kind of knew what I was getting into, but I was still very surprised with what I saw. The first music video of theirs I watched was “Circus & Renai Soudan.” At first, I didn’t like it. The music was jarring and the performance felt too chaotic, so I clicked out of the video. I still found the group’s aesthetic interesting, though, so I kept watching their videos. Something about them kept pulling me back despite not liking how the girls themselves sounded. I really liked the music; I thought it was quite unique to the other idol groups I listened to. And just how Mr. Tanaka said, I gave it three days and I started appreciating them way more.
I think it’s kind of funny, though, how everyone who I know are big fans of the group kind of go through the same process. So I am curious: Did you also go through the same feeling when you first learned of the group?
“Circus & Renai Soudan” (2012)
Ryo: I already knew what to expect from BellHa and their voices before I listened to their first album, BedHead, much after its initial release. But a lack of vocal skills have become somewhat of a norm for idols alternative to the mainstream, or alt-idols, by the time I decided to explore BellHa’s music, so I don’t think it would have come that shocking to me even if I knew nothing about them.
This is to also say I worked backwards when it comes to BellHa. They were long gone when I got into their catalog, and the alt-idol scene had grown much more diverse in personality. What got me curious about the Crow Girls was the groups formed in their wake, some of which counted former members in the line-up, like Gugu-LuLu, SAKA-SAMA and There There Theres. When I first listened to BellHa’s music, it fascinated me how I can hear the foundations of those later groups hidden inside an album like 2016’s BEYOND. Do you hear any particular influences to later groups in BellHa’s music? What threads can we draw to currently active groups from their catalog?
Myrna: BEYOND is definitely the album where you can hear most of these influences. One of my favorite tracks, “The Victim,” could be called a prototype MIGMA SHELTER song. The song is a remake of industrial band minus (-)’s song of the same name, but the tiny changes in Bellring’s version has characteristics also heard throughout MIGMA’s discography. You can also pinpoint the start of GuGu-Lulu’s signature strong bass lines all over Bellring’s songs like “Manic Panic” and “Mr.Merci.” It goes without saying that successor groups of the Crow Girls like There There Theres and NILKLY also took on their base sound, but they managed to change it around enough to form their own identity.
Another thing that has always fascinated me about BellHa’s impressive catalog is that you could often tell very easily where they got the inspiration for their own songs. I remember in one of the earliest This Side of Japan issues, you mentioned how they seemed to take a lot of inspiration from psychedelic rock and British alternative. I always found the interpolation of “Song 2” by Blur in their song “c.a.n.d.y'“ one of the coolest things ever. And you could hear the main guitar riff of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” all over “Get Rid of the Chopper”—BellHa always seemed to wear their influences on their sleeve. You probably heard some of these too. Have you found more of these specific musical influences? Do you think this influenced how Bellring are seen now in the greater chika idol canon?
And here are 10 great idol singles from March and April.
“Life Is Simple” by You’ll Melt More! [YOU’LL]
You’ll Melt More! sound almost annoyed in their new single that they have to explain to you what’s already written pretty obvious in the title. The verses certainly seem like a chore to get through but only because they are precisely a laundry list of what makes this whole thing called life tedious and—to use YMM!’s own words—so complicated. The idols get through all that word salad to just shrug it all off with a big, fat WHY? Because, yeah, why do we need to stress about war, success, economics, politics or religion when we can just… not? If the group’s “just think simply!” philosophy is a hard pill to swallow, the loud, dumb-fun EDM beat makes it go down a whole lot easier.
Dance Punk Monsters is out now. Listen to it on Spotify.
See also:”IDOL FIRE” by HO6LA; “DANCESELF” by Yukkyun
“Wonderland” by pageONE [self-released]
The idols of pageONE retreat to their daydreams in “Wonderland,” escaping to a plane far more colorful and electric. The future-bass production unwinds like a roller-coaster track, and a thunderous, TNGHT-esque brass drop awaits at one point of the ride. “A wonderland where I want no one to bother me,” the idols sing as the buzzing beat rises and rises. “A wonderland where I don’t want anyone to understand.” Lucky for us, they lift the caution tape and allow us to peek into their secret base.
Listen to it on Spotify.
See also: “SBFM” by CUBELIC; “TWIG” by MAGICAL SPEC
“Pride” by cinder-ella [rock field]
Cinder-ella knows well as any how fitting metal music can be as a vehicle to explore the inherent ugliness of the cardinal sins, and “Pride” marks one of three songs that explicitly follows the concept from the group’s new album titled, yes, sins. “I thought it was special / it was just my own hubris,” the idols wallow in the chorus as the pianos and brutal guitars deepen the melodrama. True to the spirit of the song, neither Cinder-ella nor their maudlin metal are willing to ease away from the tense matter at hand, satisfied to instead sulk in their self-inflicted pain.
sins is out now. Listen to it on Spotify.
See also: “URGE” by BLACKNAZARENE; “ash.” by TOKYO TEFUTEFU
“love or like (Tokyo)” by SUPER DRAGON ft. Anatomy Rabbit [SDR]
SUPER DRAGON join the recent wave of J-pop names linking up with pop acts from Thailand with the group enlisting Anatomy Rabbit and their balmy, glittered guitars to switch it up. SupaDora really leans into their collaborator’s signature sound, offering a rather oriental theme for the visual treatment but also embracing the otherworldly atmosphere literally for the lyrics: “I can show you the brand new world you’ve never seen,” the boys promise a wonder of a sight as they yearn to get a little closer. If they seem like a tourist in their own song, the genre-hopping makes a lot more sense fit within SUPER DRAGON’S new, stylistically adventurous album.
Forth to Force is out now. Listen to it on Spotify.
See also: “Gimme Gimme” by DEEP SQUAD; “Move the Soul” by JO1
“Happyend To Sorekara” by Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku [Sony]
Shinya Ishihara basically hands Ebi Chu an untouched track of his band Saucy Dog as the nine piece sing a tender pop-punk-adjacent song in “Happyend To Sorekara.” “My first love, how are you doing? Are you doing well,” they call out in the chorus of this sentimental track ruminating on the time past since their early relationship. The idols sound emotionally candid as they reminisce and reenact this imaginary conversation, especially when they cram in all of their thoughts in a rhythmic fashion seemingly indebted to pop punk. And for a post-break-up track, “Happyend To Sorekara” settles in a surprising, heart-warming place of inner peace: “‘What happened to that person?’ or ‘did you meet anyone?’ / Those things are all fine / It’s fine if we just talked old stories,” Ebi Chu assures in the final chorus, removed from the past enough to feel content just to spend time together again.
Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku is out now. Listen to it on Spotify.
See also: “Nijiiro Garland” by jubilee jubilee; “Hikari No Sasumamani” by Kaede(Negicco)
“HYPER SONIC!” by At Seventeen [Purple One Star]
If At Seventeen in “HYPER SONIC!” sound more serious than usual, they’re only responding to the stakes at hand. The group is the most established name out of the other maid-cafe groups of the Maidin! conglomerate, and so they carry the task to use their reputation and get ears to the upcoming new mini album, unusual, showcasing the collective. The guitar-driven production establishes the needed edge while the idols assume a steely cool to lay down their mission statement: “Even if the light disappears, I’ll shine the way with my voice / I decided that I will be the one to protect you,” they sing before the song bursts into its punk-ish chorus. The idols preach an affectionate sentiment rooted in their main gig as a maid-idol in “HYPER SONIC!,” though they aim for their big dreams to reach a stage far bigger than the cafe stage.
unusual is out now. Listen to it on Spotify.
See also: “Doll’s Note” by Doll x Doll; “Club Music” by Naniwa Moemoe Club
“Seifuku No Ningyo” by Sakurazaka46 [Sony]
While Sakurazaka deliver an earnest ode about being honest with your feelings in their main single, some of the members find space to get loose and act true to their green age in one of the B-sides. The New Jack Swing-esque funk track inspires the idols to adopt hip hop for both their vocal cadence and indifferent attitude. Their attempts at posturing can sound like a kid trying on adult clothes: “‘Please show me your ID,’ but even if you check it / who’s going to identify what? / Because aren’t I me,” they retort at one point. But the oversized fit of their style sounds exactly like the right feel for a band of teenagers who always have acted too smart for their own good.
Samidareyo is out now. Listen to it on Spotify.
See also: “Motokaredesu” by AKB48; “Actually…” by Nogizaka46
“Ye-Yo” by DAREMO SHIRANAI [NW]
DAREMO SHIRANAI’s KAMPFER from last year showcased a group of melodramatic pop-metal idols with some dance tracks if the mood struck. And then here comes “Ye-Yo” that pushes them closer to the realm of pop, specifically the Nico Nico Douga-vibe songwriters who like to stuff lyrics as much as zigzagging guitar riffs. The math-rock twist and speed as well as the impenetrability of the lyrics provide a lot of the thrills. Though, the idols also deliver more than a few snatches of melody along with some high-pitched, post-hardcore-reminiscent shrieks that call to my mind a band like Kami-sama, I Have Noticed.
Listen to it on Spotify.
See also: “Under the name of the first string” by Hakushi No Reboot; “loop” by Planet After the Rain
“Lilac rendez-vous” by SAKA-SAMA [TRASH-UP!!]
After taking a stab at seemingly every loud, alternative genre under the sun in their 2020 album, SAKA-SAMA chooses to embrace quiet bedroom pop with some help from singer-songwriter mekakushe. The toybox synth-pop of “Lilac rendez-vous” cozies up the idols enough to reveal a few secrets they’ve been keeping to themselves lately: “Teach me / if there is a rule to happiness / it just feels off no matter what I do,” the duo opens the song before they start to describe their conundrum in increasingly surreal ways. The two sound more curious than worried, daydreaming about how things in life all eventually fades away—and the music, too, fizzes and pops as if to drive home their point.
Lilac rendez-vous / E.S.P. is out now. Listen to it on Spotify.
See also: “Honto Wa Think of You” by Aoi Yagawa; “passion” by Beni Usakura
“SOMEBODY” by PRIKIL [FNC ENTERTAINMENT JAPAN]
The Who Is Princess? winners come out swinging with a booming, red-carpet-rolling debut single. The idols of PRIKIL declare to shine like Mercury in the chorus to the tune of a glittery power-pop guitars while their promise to “I’m gonna be somebody! Yeah!” already feels fulfilled as it arrives alongside one triumphant brass riff. They throw girl-power banner hooks like K-pop’s Itzy but absolved a bit with NiziU’s bubbly earnestness—an equalized mix of sass and self-confidence without the main character syndrome. The meta text of the song as a vehicle for the contestants-turned-real idols certainly elevate the narrative arc, but the exuberant enthusiasm toward their futures really speaks for itself.
Listen to it on Spotify.
See also: “Juga Juga JUNGLE” by Girls2; “Fall in You” by REVE
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