The Molice -- Hello, Hello

Buffalo, New York is an old companion of mine. Sorry to say, I have never visited the city separated from Toronto by one Great Lake, but it's been with me since I was a baby through television. My connection with the Big Three networks of ABC, NBC and CBS...even before cable...was all through their Buffalo affiliates. I got to know about all of those sitcoms such as "Bewitched", "Green Acres" and "The Odd Couple" along with "Star Trek" and "The Twilight Zone". There were also the local programs from Buffalo such as "Dialing for Dollars", "Rocketship Seven" and all of those bowling shows. And last but not least, I will never forget the legendary anchorman Irv Weinstein on WKBW's (the ABC affiliate) "Eyewitness News". He's the one who taught me about all those places around The Queen City with those amazing names of Batavia, Cheektowaga and Lackawanna.

So, you can just imagine my surprise on finding out that a Japanese rock band is based not across from the Pacific Ocean in Tokyo or Osaka but simply across Lake Ontario in the very city that I was talking about in the first paragraph. Now, just to be transparent about all this, last week, The Molice was kind enough to follow me on Twitter, and so with that name, I was curious what this was all about.

Now, according to their profile on their website, The Molice has been around since 2007 and includes Rinko on vocals/rhythm guitar, guitarist Yuzuru Takeda and drummer Hirofumi “Paro” Katsumoto who joined up in 2015. As for their style, I'll quote directly from their site:

Drawing inspiration from 70’s punk DIY spirit, 80’s new wave stylish power pop, and 90’s unchained indies guitar rock, the band has hammered out their own sound while playing in Tokyo’s numerous rock venues and on tour in North America, Europe and Asia. This East/West hybrid sound has a wide appeal by being both catchy and edgy, incorporating rock n’ roll, classical, dance, shoegaze, alternative, and post-hardcore elements. Rinko sings primarily in Japanese, but in a melodic rock style, in contrast to the more popular idol singing style in Japan. Her lyrics are often romantic, but sometimes venture into sci-fi, inspired by movies such as Blade Runner and Fahrenheit 451.

With all of those influences in there, I was quite intrigued, especially with the genres included from those three different decades as described in the first sentence of that quoted paragraph. Although I never got into the 90s indies scene, I started imagining about those 70s and 80s influences and wondered if there were something Pretenders, early Blondie or something of the members of The Go-Gos before they hit it big with their New Wave/pop hits.

I checked out some of their material including their latest from this year, "The Ray", but I was also drawn to their 2018 "Hello Hello" from their album "Gate". "Hello Hello" is definitely a rolling rodeo across the prairie, and Rinko's singing reminds me of The Go-Gos' Belinda Carlisle when she was singing "We Got The Beat", but the overall arrangement also has me thinking about Heart's 1977 hit "Barracuda" to a certain extent.

Now, as a number of "Kayo Kyoku Plus" veterans probably already know, I'm not a huge rock fan so the above paragraph is about as good a description as I can give on my impressions of "Hello Hello", but if you J-Rock fans out there have more precise impressions, please let me know. The only other observation that I have is that I did pick up the melodic rock described from their profile. There's a nice little pop in the song to help the rock go down for me.

According to their News page, the band has been in Japan since COVID-19 hit and that has been the case with a lot of singers and bands this year. So, unfortunately, they've been sidelined but are hoping to get back up and running as soon as things improve. When they do return to Buffalo, I hope that they will learn about the legend that is Irv!