SHISHAMO -- OH!

The first time I wrote about the rock trio SHISHAMO was just after my 2017 trip to Japan. My first look at them was on "Music Station" on the night that I arrived at my hotel in Otsuka, Tokyo, as I was tucking into my beloved karaage bento (nope, shishamo wasn't on the menu).

Well, cue ahead a little over a year. I was watching NHK's "Uta Kon"（うたコン）a few nights ago and the hosts billed that episode as the final show of the Heisei Era (which I'm sure that a lot of regular TV variety shows and the like have been doing this week). Of course, a majority of the show was devoted to the big hits over the past 30 years of Heisei, but SHISHAMO was there to participate in the theme of the week, but also to debut their latest single, "OH!".

Released as their 9th single a couple of days ago, I wish something like "OH!" would have been put out there during my high school days. I think its message of plowing ahead the way you are in life without having to worry about how anyone else feels or thinks about you could have made things in my life somewhat easier. It's a genki song written and composed by vocalist Asako Miyazaki（宮崎朝子）, and makes for a nice melodic version of orange juice in 2019. I especially like how her voice glides at points.

As it has only been released in the last two days, there is no report on how it has done in the rankings but I'm pretty confident that it will make its hold higher up. I was thinking that "OH!" would make for a nice theme song for a J-drama somewhere on the schedule, but it's actually being used for a Lotte commercial according to the uploader for the above video.

Now that we're in the final few days before the transition from the Heisei to Reiwa Eras, I'm confident that SHISHAMO will be among the many bands to hold the torch crossing the ages.