Yogee New Waves -- Climax Night

 

Yup, that's Tokyo's Hard Rock Café on top of Tony Roma's in Roppongi. I've been to both establishments many times. They can be accessed through a small alley just off the old main drag in the neighbourhood. I think it was Tony's that had the famous Onion Loaf: a deep-fried block of onion shreds that could be the restaurant's equivalent of the Outback's Bloomin' Onion. Try as we did, we could never finish either of them. Maybe that's a good thing.

Believe me, it wasn't by design that this and the previous two entries have involved song titles that ended with the word "night". Yet, we have here "Climax Night" by Neo-City Pop and rock band Yogee New Waves. A story of a man pining over a woman who is possibly on the verge of leaving him, the song was written and composed by vocalist Kengo Kakudate（角舘健悟）, and there is something imbued into the arrangement that reminds me of the band War's most successful hit "Why Can't We Be Friends?" from 1975. 

I'm always intrigued by a song that seems to have so many influences going for it, and with "Climax Night", I'm hearing Kakudate's alternative-happy slightly loopy vocals, the sudden injection of 70s rock in the bridge, the feeling of nighttime Shibuya and some reggae rhythm. Basically, it's fortified with plenty of melodic juice. "Climax Night" was released as an EP in April 2014 and then became the first track in Yogee New Waves' first album "Paraiso" later in September.