Big thanks to J-Canuck for being inclusive - this is at the "+" end of KK+ but
I found the video as a result of his "Frederic-oddloop" post. On the YT sidebar was a song called "Telecaster Stripe", and as I
actually know what that is* I was intrigued. The video is from a group called Polkadot
Stingray (ポルカドットスティングレイ) - named after the freshwater stingray Potamotrygon leopoldi - and since posting in March 2016 has
over 8 million views. Polka is an indie group; originally with no
major label backing. This video was all
them - they only recently signed to Universal Sigma (with the support, resources,
marketing, etc. that implies).
I'd put them on the punk-lite / power pop / melodic rock
spectrum. They're often compared to Yabi
T-shirt (harder, rougher rock and
also recently signed to Universal Sigma) and Yabi has contributed vocals on one
song of the most recent Polka CD. I hear
a lot of similarities with Emu sicks
(they all appear on the 2016 freebie CD "16 Beat Seal Comp 2", designed to showcase various indie
bands). Indie in this case means less "stick it to the man" and more
the old-school punk ethos of "Do It Yourself". They've made deft use of social media - LINE,
Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YT, Spotify, etc. - to break out.
So far Polka has released: 2 mini albums, one single, one
EP, and their first album CD+DVD that came out last month. I was in Tokyo but missed
picking it up by a day; the free T-shirt wouldn’t have fit me anyway.
With only an early slight change the same 4 members have
been together since 2015. The front is Shizuku (雫) :
vocals, guitar, song-writing, design, artwork, video director ( an application
game director in her day job). Lead
Guitar: Ezima Harushi (エジマハルシ). Bass:
Uemura Yuki (ウエムラユウキ). Drums:
Mitsuyasukazuma (ミツヤスカズマ).
What sets them apart are the vocals of Shizuku. From grade school she was heavily influenced
by Ringo Shiina ("Camouflage" especially) and also plays a surf green Duesenberg Starplayer TV. At some time she went to school in the UK
and is comfortable singing in English. Shizuku
can sound quirky like Kahimi Karie or Etsuko Yakushimaru but has a
stronger voice, does more with it, and sounds distinctive without the
vocals becoming an affectation.
However, she sings "straight" often enough so it doesn't go
off the rails completely - she will always come back to a baseline normal.
This sums up Polka for me. Each member departs from the group far enough to be interesting but always returns to the fundamental purpose of
their instrument, respecting the song and keeping the performance from being a
pastiche of piece-parts. Doing so
requires a lot of discipline - Ezima's guitar is utterly distinctive but he's
not a guitar hero. Chunks of Telecaster
Stripe are bass/drum
minimalism to calm everything down. A
well-done arrangement and production balance between 4 instruments and voice: let's
hope they don't become "Shizuku ! … with
Polkadot Stingray" anytime soon.
A real discovery for me is Uemura Yuki. His Bass slaps, pops, plucks, growls, and plays
melody but never loses the essential "bottom". A similar concept to how Shizuku uses her voice. Plus:
any video with nyan nyans in it is good by me (@2:09 has become a meme).
Polka is also familiar on the CM front, having done commercials for Playstation, Google Photos, and Mizuho's 2020 Olympic
"Jump! PROJECT" (aided by 400 dancing employees).
Finding most KK music 30+ years too late it's fun
to follow some in real time ;)
*(https://www.fender.com/articles/tech-talk/what-is-a-skunk-stripe/),
@ 2:39.
Hi, T-cat and thanks for this new article on this band that I had never heard about. Nothing says indie rock more than having the video partially set in a coin laundry. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's always nice to hear about new acts in the 2010s since admittedly I'm not up on the latest new singers and bands. Hearing Shizuku as the vocalist, there is that similarity to Ringo but without some of the growliness. That's also an interesting point to make about how each band member gets to stretch out a bit but still keeping within the overall band structure.