WACK

Even When It Rains, It’s a PARADE

/ Cal / Leave a comment

Well, this year’s WACK AUDiTiON CAMP certainly was eventful! Auditionee Waki Waki Wakki got added to WAgg and WAgg member Kira May who’s been apart of the group for 3 months got added to GANG PARADE.

…for all of 3 minutes. GANG PARADE will be splitting into two smaller groups. Just as BiS2 made the decision last year to break up, GANG PARADE will be doing the same thing. But in a completely different manner that’s effectively not the same as breaking up. Totally 100% similar.

This is the culmination of an internal decision between members and staff. In Kamiya Saki’s previous graduation announcement, she revealed that she felt like she was holding GANG PARADE back and while Watanabe, the fans and the members probably don’t agree, it set something new into motion. If you can’t achieve your goals after reaching a certain point, it’s okay to try again from the start isn’t it? So, we’re here now, with two new groups born from GANG PARADE splitting into two.

First new group is the dark and noisy GO TO THE BEDS:

If you need a reference point for previous GANG PARADE works, this wouldn’t go out of place on “LAST GANG PARADE” or “GANG PARADE takes themselves higher!!!” – in fact the guitar in this contains a reference within it’s motif to GANG PARADE (the song). Comprised of Coco Partin Coco, Yui Ga Dockson, Yumeno Yua, Can GP Maika and Yamamachi Miki, this is the group carrying the torch of GP’s mismatched chaos that shouldn’t work but manages to come together perfectly.

The second group is the softer and synergized PARADISES:

Still very much a GANG PARADE product but this ebbs closer to the softer “BARELY LAST” and “LOVE PARADE”. The current members are Tsukino Usagi, Naruhaworld and Terashima Yuka! New girl Kira May will join this group eventually.

If you’ve been keeping up with GANG PARADE activities, this might not come as such a shock. A few weeks prior, a mysterious Guerrilla EP titled “GP?” was on sale for just 100 yen at Tower Records. None of the tracks contained any song metadata but the 6 songs were clearly split into two distinct groups – the first now evident to be GO TO THE BEDS and the second PARADISES but with the since-graduated Haruna Bad Chiiiin. Given her presence on the mystery EP and a few cryptic tweets about life changing before her account vanished into the ether, it’s not hard to imagine this might have been in the works for a while and might be why she left.

And of course, there’s still a loose end here: Kamiya Saki. She’s still scheduled to graduate from GANG PARADE but as it stands, she isn’t in either group and is the only member who’s Twitter handle and promotional images contain any kind of reference to her being a member of GANG PARADE. On top of that, their upcoming “My First Hall Tour” is still being billed as GANG PARADE.

So, what exactly does this mean? How can GANG PARADE be splitting into two groups if their tour is a GANG PARADE tour? Will the two groups promo together like BiS1st and BiS2nd did (also don’t worry, this isn’t league based so nobody is competing against one another) or apart? Will they perform together or as two groups during the tour? Do they know why kids love the taste of cinnamon toast crunch? How is promo going to work if the tour does turn out to be together as GANG PARADE?

Absolutely none of those questions have been answered. BUT, their debut digital singles and EP are coming soon. Tomorrow on streaming services, the songs in the previous music videos will go up on streaming services and on April 1st their debut split EP “G/P”, billed as “GO TO THE BEDS and PARADISES from GANG PARADE” will be released. 7 tracks: three G, three P and one Kamiya Saki solo song.

Just like when BiS2 said “I don’t know what will happen”, nobody does here either. But it’s just not WACK if it isn’t confusing, slightly irritating but also new and exciting. So let’s all go to bed to be able to reach paradise ey.

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For Him? For Her? It’s POUR LUI

/ Cal / Leave a comment

Is this the longest downtime between albums in idol history? Seriously, we’ve been waiting for 10 years!

Today the sequel to Pour Lui’s original solo album “Minna no Pour Lui” aptly titled “Minna no Pour Lui II” drops and oh boy was it worth the decade long wait.

As you can see we have a full double album here! Eight brand new songs and a second disc of re-recordings from the original Minna no Pour Lui.

The initial sound is what you’d expect from a WACK and SCRAMBLES production – it’s solid alt-rock that makes you want to slam your head back and forth, with opening track “I’m in love” featuring some guitarwork that wouldn’t go out of place on an Iron Maiden album. Pour Lui would kill Run to the Hills but could Bruce Dickinson do THIS? No, because he can’t speak Japanese.

 

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A WACK Way to Deal With Cancelled Shows

/ Cal

If you’ve been keeping up with the news, both regular and idol, you’ll probably know that Abe Shinzo issued a countrywide order temporarily banning all large scale public entertainment events because of Novel Coronavirus fears. ZOC cancelled their entire FINAL INNOCENT ZOC tour, Aya Eightprince cancelled a smaller public appearance and Pour Lui cancelled the shooting for her upcoming idol group’s music video to name a few. Things have been cancelled harder than a celebrity who’s angered a kpop fanbase.

Currently, WACK are meant to be embarking on their nationwide WACK FUCKiN’ PARTY tour but alas even Watanabe Junnosuke who has objectively more clout than the prime minister can’t get around a ban on public events.

Just kidding, yes he FUCKiN can!

This Saturday at 6pm JST, the show will go on! NO AUDiENCE LiVE is exactly what it sounds like – nobody is going to be there. You can’t cancel a public event that isn’t a public event. The entire thing is going to be broadcast on Niconico so everyone will be able to be there in spirit. A premium subscription is only around $5USD too, so hey, if you’re spending your time indoors as a health precaution why not spend it with the idol fanbase’s favourite women’s prison colony?

It’s been a rough week for a lot of people on Earth because of the you-know-what, but in a dire time things like entertainment are what make it manageable! So, cast aside your worry, wash your damn hands regularly and enjoy your time at home.

And if you’re in need of a little something extra, BiSH and EMPiRE made a few previously limited broadcasts available on their YouTube channels as a sorry for cancelled shows too.

Remember, while this is a lot of fun content for us overseas, fundamentally it’s a sorry to people living in a country that’s tightening it’s grip attempting to deal with a pandemic, so remember to be respectful! Or if you’re living in a country that’s going through the same thing do what you want, we’re not the reaction police over here.

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Watanalien Vs Predator-chan

/ Cal

Our apologies to AKB fans, women and anybody with any kind of common sense – that man Kuro-chan is unfortunately relevant again.

Remember the hot new unit from WACK who became so popular overnight they gained upwards of 1.5 million views a day? They debuted on a segment on the most popular prime time TV show in the entire country? They had an extremely successful “vote with your wallet” sales campaign? Those MAMESHiBA NO TAiGUN girls! They’re back with not one but TWO new songs and of course, a campaign to go with it:

 

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It’s a New CARRY LOOSE Video

/ Cal

After a failed crowd-sourcing effort to think of a headline that wasn’t terrible, the team here at Homicidols have decided to lay it on you bare bones style, much like CARRY LOOSE do in their new video where they burn to death and become floating skulls.

That’s right! The self described “cool and emo” idols from WACK are back with the video for their first single, dropping on the 11th of February. Just in time for Valentines Day! If your lover doesn’t appreciate the vocal prowess of YUiNA EMPiRE, break up with them and spend your gift money on cheki instead.

In an effort to stop Yumeka Naukana from talking about aliens again, this song is all about the denizens of our very own planet Earth. The verses are mellow while the more upbeat chorus features a proud proclamation of the amazingness of humankind. This isn’t your typical WACK ballad, these girls are here to lift your spirits without a hint of melancholy~

If you’re itching to see how the song sounds live but have the displeasure of not being in Japan anytime soon, the annual ONAGAWACK performance is set to be livestreamed on Nicovid next Saturday. If that’s not enough to get your interest, MAMESHiBA NO TAiGUN will also be performing their one song then immediately leaving again. We stan.

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TFW You Can’t Quit Idol and Idol Can’t Quit You

/ Homicidol Maniac

The waning days of 2019 and opening week of 2020 have been a special time. Some of the greatest legacy acts and personalities of our time hang ’em up at last — the literal goddess of earth and sky herself even revealing that she’s been secretly married all this time — and with that saw the retirement from idol and return to solo work by the grand dame herself, Pour Lui, twice founder of BiS, mature member of BILLIE IDLE, from whose fecund mind sprang the cultural movement that created not just modern chika idol but about 95% of what we like to cover here. That Lui was going back to her roots as a solo musician (though still connected to the Watanabe/Matsukuma machine) felt like a nice coda, something natural. She was done with idol, and idol — graciously — was done with her.

Or so we thought!

New group with a familiar-sounding name. New auditions. New music. “It’s complicated” with WACK. Somebody stage an intervention for this woman! Continue reading →

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When Naruhaworlds Collide – Why Idol Fans Are Excited For Hyadain x GANG PARADE

/ Cal

Happy new year! Japan have already rang in the new decade and with it, a menagerie of new music.

Rock and alternative style idols are no stranger to unexpected collaborations, from BiS and Hijokaidan to You’ll Melt More and… also Hijokaidan. But in this subculture, mainstream breakthroughs are the real sucker punch to longtime fans of girls dancing to alt rock with a crowd of about 30 people.

So, fresh off their major label debut, GANG PARADE have dropped an announcement that their second digital single will be a joint composition between Scrambles’ very own Matsukuma Kenta with a very special guest…

Mastermind behind Momoiro Clover Z: Hyadain! Continue reading →

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MAMESHiBA NO TAiGUN and Their Dog Day Afternoon

/ Cal

We here at Homicidols Dot Com are pleased to continue our tradition of supporting excellent Twitter handles by welcoming another new voice to the Team; say hello to Cal!

Today’s been an interesting day for idol survival shows hasn’t it? The mainstream Produce series has been given the axe and the “also mainstream but the music has guitars” show MONSTER IDOL finally ended, birthing a new breed of WACK girls.

Please welcome to the world’s stage: MAMESHiBA NO TAiGUN!

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This new BiS is SubLiME

/ Kerrie

It just me, or does anytime a WACK group that’s not part of the BiS/H duo deliver something new, they get barely any time in the LiMElight before they’re overshadowed? I only covered EMPiRE two days ago and already we have a music video for DEAD or a LiME, the first “real” single by BiS’ third generation. 

If you’re wondering why “LiME”, the MV answers nothing. It sure is juicy though!

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[Insert Joker Reference Here]

/ Kerrie

Did anyone else forget that EMPiRE have an album out next month? What is probably WACK’s most polished unit have been so busy lately that it can be hard to keep track of them. They only just released a single two weeks ago and they’re already promoting “The GREAT JOURNEY ALBUM” through limo rides (yes, really) and a premature music video for album opener “Have it my way”.

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