Zutomayo -- O-Benkyo Shitoite yo（お勉強しといてよ）

 

I remember that Rick Beato 2023 interview with rock guitarist Marty Friedman from Megadeth on how intricate, complex and packed chords in J-Pop songs can be. There were a lot of people who enjoyed it but at the same time, there were folks who thought that Beato was pooh-poohing the genre, but you can take a look at the two videos to make your own judgement.

Well, I was reminded of the Beato interview due to the discovery of this video by musician pdbass that had been uploaded about a few weeks ago. Titled "The Greatest J-Pop Bass Line EVER", I was certainly intrigued and watching the six minutes and change of the video, I knew that this was one guy who could obviously go into the deep dive of explaining chord progressions and the like, so if you want the expert's explanation, then by all means, watch this video which is educational and entertaining.

I can't do that here on KKP but watching pdbass' enthusiastic discovery, I made my own discovery of this mysterious band called Zutomayo which is the short-but-popular name for Zutto Mayonaka de Ii no ni（ずっと真夜中でいいのに。...I wish it was midnight all the time.）. Formed in 2018, the band is somewhat of an amoeba of a group with shifting unseen musicians going in and out with the only central member being the vocalist ACA-Ne（ACAね）. Zutomayo is considered to be a rock group but even the Wikipedia article on them mentions (as has pdbass) the incredible funky bass work by various members.

The song which pdbass was impressed by is Zutomayo's 7th digital single "O-Benkyo Shitoite yo" (Study Me) from May 2020. Written and composed by ACA-Ne, the bassist is indeed going at warp speed but may I also note the pianist who probably wanted to soak his fingers in ice water for a couple of hours after recording?  Basically, it sounds like an excerpt of a major jam session (funk, jazz, disco, rock, pop) with ACA-Ne leading the way as she sings about a woman who's screaming on the inside about making contact with a potential significant other.

"O-Benkyo Shitoite yo" hit No. 20 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 and No. 15 on the Billboard Japan Download Songs. The song was also a track on Zutomayo's 2nd full album "Gusare"（ぐされ）, released in February 2021 with a No. 2 ranking on Oricon.

I'll have to give another one of pdbass' videos a look since he has described my beloved Al Jarreau's "Mornin'" as having the greatest bridge in pop music.