Idol Watch #20: January/February 2023
Rounding up the best idol songs from the past two months, featuring pinponpanpon, COMIQ ON, RYUTist and more, plus a deep dive into the composer behind FRUIT ZIPPER's viral hit
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 past issues in the archives.
FRUITS ZIPPER have been on TV a whole lately after winning Best New Artist at last year’s Japan Record Awards, largely thanks to their 2022 TikTok hit, “Watashi No Ichiban Kawaii Iitokoro.” The group has released a number of singles since, but despite efforts to branch out to different styles, the sound and lyrical style introduced in their breakout single have practically stuck on as their main mode. And lately, the song’s bubbly, kitchen-sink funk and meta-ditzy lyrics has been becoming motifs that are defining a new personality of cute within idol songs.
“Watashi No Ichiban Kawaii Tokoro” by FRUITS ZIPPER [Kawaii Lab, 2022]
The musician behind the influential single is Yamamoto Sho, who’s been contributing to idol music as a lyricist, composer as well as arranger for nearly a decade now. The roots of the lyrical and musical tropes found on “Watashi No…” can be traced all the way back to the ‘80s-nostalgic synth-pop duo Phenotas, his first notable project formed in 2012. But it wouldn’t crystallize into its current popular form until arguably 2020 when he handed in the debut single for the now-defunct group Rirunede. In between that eight-year window, he’s been involved with a whole crew of idol groups who aren’t so far in proximity from FRUIT ZIPPER.
While attempting to break down exactly why “Watashi No…” is a great record, I also wanted to dig deep into its DNA especially because its stylistic make-up has been germinating into today’s idol music. And so below, we will look back into the standouts from Yamamoto Sho’s discography as it pertains to the development of “Watashi No…” as well as idol releases that can be labeled post-FRUIT ZIPPER. We will start from the beginning until we reach “Watashi No…” and then continue to the songs that gesture to its influence.
“Kawaii Dake Ja Damemitai” by Phenotas [Universal, 2013]
Yamamoto has been stuck in a retro zone since his days making music as Phenotas, a duo formed with singer-songwriter MICO. And with the dinky synths and funk guitar licks as seemingly separate entities in the production, their work resembles more music made by a live band. But much of his funk-sourced materials are already assembled here, ready to be shaken up into idol-pop instrumentals. Paired with the high vocal tones of MICO, it’s not too hard to see how Phenotas would cross paths with idol acts like Dempagumi.inc and Yufu Terashima—some of the names that will play key to Yamamoto’s own involvement with idol music.
As essential as the music, the lyrics of “Kawaii Dake a Damemitai” teases the meta songwriting he will hand to idols almost a decade later. From the impression of the lyrics, the girl in this Phenotas track knows the game too well. “Girls want to be called the cutest, the cutest in the world / so they want to change but they can’t,” she sings in the pouting chorus that details the chase like a play-by-play commentary. While the duo also reveal a sliver of insecurity as they give a wink to the audience, the self-obsession for looking cute inherent in FRUIT ZIPPER’ viral hit take root here.
…from 2013nen, Natsu EP (2013). Listen to it on Spotify.
“Mimi No Nakae” by Earphones [EVIL LINE, 2015]
This early track by seiyuu trio Earphones marks one of the first arrangements from Yamamoto after the disbandment of Phenotas, and it already features the hallmark sounds that populate his big singles today. This being a song based on 2D idols, the rock elements of his past band are subdued in favor of a more dempa-influenced beat. He embellishes the bright production with plinking xylophones and lazer-gun synths—Fisher-Price sounds a little reminiscent to the songs by a particular pop star from Kawaii Lab’s head agency ASOBISYSTEM. Maybe it’s missing a hint of bubbly brass or jazzy keyboards, though it’s not far off from the idol songs of the current day.
…from MIRACLE MYSTERY TOUR (2015). Listen to it on Spotify.
“All We Need Is Love Story” by The Dance for Philosophy [PHILOSOPHY OF THE WORLD, 2016]
Though the group’s core musical concept of classic funk and disco aligns so well with the producer’s own tastes, The Dance for Philosophy only had Yamamoto as their chief lyricist up until their third album. But the love-obsessed, fourth-wall-breaking writing of his future records is teased out in DFP’s third single, “All We Need Is Love Story.” The idols sing in a candidly conversational style about the unspoken rules on dating: “It’s hard when it’s just the two of us / but we can start conversation, right?,” they playfully inquire as though they’re asking directly to the listeners with a wink. DFP would go on to express a self-sufficient ethos that’s outside of the ditzy-cute idol mold yet that open talk with the audience carries on as an echo in Yamamoto’s works.
…from FUNKY BUT CHIC (2017). Listen to it on Spotify.
And here are my 9 favorite idol songs from January and February!
“PinPonDash” by pinponpanpon [self-released]
Who knew what we needed next from idol is a group fueled by dance music that’s the sonic equivalent of a Strong Zero in all its trashy, caffeine-addled glory? The deep-fried club-rager of a beat echoes rap group STARKIDS a little more than pure feeling: producer frenchcries has worked with that group’s Space Boy for a couple tracks. But even before considering the sloshed feel of the music, the song title alone suggests a group steeped in the juvenile humor of a teen prankster—what else can we expect from a group named after ding-dong-ditching? It’s silly, unruly, and my favorite thing in idol right now.
PinPonPeaceProject EP is out now. Listen to it on Spotify.
“2nvy” by situasion [Lonesome]
If squeezing in any of their dance-music-oriented tracks into their set list is a tough exercise, situasion don’t make it any easier for themselves with immortal envy club. The group’s new EP houses a set of even more austere electronic production that pull from electro, industrial techno and other rough-housing styles. Take the cold electro of “2nvy” with a throbbing bass line that comes in contact with the harsh beat like hammer denting slabs of scrap metal. The idols channel the steely music in their performance, their icy vocals merciless as they wish the worst upon another in the titular lyrics. And as they further burrow into the stark music, situasion sink deeper in their spiteful feelings
The immortal envy club EP is out now. Listen to it on Spotify.
“Good Night World” by COMIQ ON! [rock field]
While the five in COMIQ ON! look cozy above as they doze off into a nice nap, “Good Night World” would drift you off into a slumber only if your idea of a idol-pop lullaby is one that fires off rumbling electro bass lines and brostep synth screeches. Familiar flourishes like dempa synths and chintzy xylophones embellish the bubbly production yet the song envisions more a night out to the Eurobeat disco than a pajama party for the girls without stepping outright into the club. For a gentle snooze, it’s the morning call of the B-side that you want: here, the idols seem ready to go a little harder after a long day at work.
Good Night World/Good Morning Call is out now. Listen to it on Spotify.
“Dance in the Air” by Village in Maier [Mukokyu Swimming]
Perhaps the tinge of metal in the opening riff disqualifies “Dance in the Air” as being a full-on skate-punk tune. The nimble grooves and the locking beat driving Village in Maier’s latest pop-punk offering, though, recalls in me the bouncy jams that once ignited the stages of Warped Tour. Enthused by the party-rock music, the idols channel its energetic and carefree attitude, dedicating their anthem to simply trying to get stupid and have a good time. “I want to dance / I don’t care / There are no right answers, so might as well,” they sing at one point, serious about not taking a thing seriously.
Dance in the Air is out now.
“My Long Prologue” by tipToe. [6jomaProject]
TipToe deliver an emo anthem in the guise of an idol song with an exuberant rock riff functioning as a vehicle for their earnest teenage feelings. True to what the title suggests, the group jots down quite a lot on the lyric sheet of “My Long Prologue,” documenting a passionate, tight-knit relationship while rolling through some intense punches. “And if everything that makes me ever crosses with all of you / the sadness we’ve felt since probably means something,” they sing in the chorus, its uplifting lyrics echoing as kind words to a friend but also to the idols’ fans. For how much they pour into the flowery verses, the fleeting music ensures it all goes down in an effortless breeze.
Listen to it on Spotify.
“Alternate” by Payrin’s [self-released]
“What do I know about me? / Have I even looked into myself,” Payrin’s quip in the chorus of “Alternate.” But as the idols continuously put themselves on the hot seat while their fiery single commences, it starts to seem evident that they might be painting themselves a bit too tightly into a corner. The music is scribbled with frantic math rock riffs. Dense, breathless lines fill every tight space of their internal monologue of a verse. “Alternate” as a song provides almost no room to breathe for us as listeners nor the idols who inhabit its crowded production. And if this is a reflection of their head space, it’s no surprise to see the idols left with not much time to really self-examine with care.
Alternate is out March 5.
“Saijokyu Ni Kawaiino!” by Cho Tokimeki Sendenbu [Avex Trax]
“Saijokyu Ni Kawaiino!” finds Cho Tokimeki Sendenbu biting back at a formal crush with passive-aggression—an unexpected type of attitude to be in the wheelhouse of a group responsible for a naive pop song like “Suki!” “I’m the most cutest I’ve ever been / thanks to you dumping me,” the six sing in the bitter chorus despite the theatrical production shining as sunny as their other hits. And their lyrical gestures sting as much as they smother, the idols wielding their cuteness now as a form of sweet revenge. Toki Sen seem to be enjoying this pettiness seeing how they’ve been pushing this on TikTok more than their actual single, and others are happily joining in as they fish for likes as if out of spite to the tune of this song.
Tokimeki Koi To Seishun is out now. Listen to it on Spotify.
“Kimi No Mune Ni, Gunshot” by RYUTist [Penguin Disc]
RYUTist strike upon yet another stunning electronic-pop sound in “Kimi No Mune Ni, Gunshot,” the now-three piece dwelling into a piece of starkly burning deep-techno. The production comes courtesy of Daigo Sakuragi from D.A.N., a band no foreign to the glitch-y electronics and tense jamming found here. And it brings a ghastly chill previously unseen from the group who’s usually responsible for sunny, pastoral pop. From the dark music emerges a rather idol-like chorus: “This heart, it’s pounding / I’m aiming for your heart, gunshot.” When wrapped in a harsh exterior like this, though, what would be an affectionate pair lyrics over any other production get warped into something more unsettling.
Listen to it on Spotify.
“CATASTROPHE” by KILLERMACHINE [self-released]
The violent hardstyle beats in KILLERMACHINE’s music lives up to the name that the soloist has given herself. Before the track even indulges in the bombastic drops full of screeching synths and head-bashing drums, “CATASTROPHE” welcomes you with death-metal guitars roaring over high-speed d ‘n’ b breaks. The sheer volume of it all makes for an exhilarating ride, particularly for a person like me who lives for the jackhammer EDM of, say, TORiENA. If it is all too much, take it as part of life’s endurance test that KILLERMACHINE sings about here as she preaches about what doesn’t kill her makes her stronger.
Listen to it on Spotify.
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