BREIMEN -- Ginga

Wikimedia Commons
via ESO/S. Guisard 

 

Let's see...a band that dresses up like a Japanese INXS and plays music that reminds me more of a mix between Steely Dan and a rambunctious AOR group. That is something to behold.

That is BREIMEN which is a band that has been around since 2015. They are categorized as a funk fusion group that can weave between R&B and alternative funk. Originally, their name had been written in kana and kanji（無礼メン）to mean Men of Insolence but somewhere down the line, they switched over to full romaji. Going through some lineup changes, it is now a five-piece band consisting of bassist/vocalist/songwriter Shota Takagi（高木祥太）, guitarist Katsushiro Sato（サトウカツシロ）, keyboardist Yuuta Ikeda（いけだゆうた）, saxophonist Joji Hayashi（ジョージ林）and drummer So Kanno. 

Releasing over 22 singles and 4 albums over their decade-long career, BREIMEN's latest one just came out last month in October. "Ginga" (Galaxy) was written and composed by Takagi and it feels like a rush of slick 1980s AOR/funk...kinda along the lines of Sing Like Talking. That keyboard work by Ikeda brings back memories of bands such as Toto, the Doobie Brothers and even some Airplay. A little over halfway into "Ginga" though, the arrangement takes a turn into a major rock guitar shredding session...as if the galaxy needed to be reminded that BREIMEN isn't all about the AOR.