I was at a party back in February, back when doing that kind of thing was normal and not a sign that you’re a degenerate who should be shot out of a cannon, and as is often typical of Fiancee when we’re gabbing with new people, she brought up this here fancy idol website and ol’ Maniac’s predilection for off-beat Japanese music. After fending off the requisite with “no, it’s nothing like BTS” and “nope, haven’t been and probably won’t” and the like, one person asked the most game question of all: What do I like best, and would I play it?

This of course was an agonizing question because, like, what do I like best, especially with a couple of quarts of beer in me, and how to choose an example? I obviously want to convert these people into fans, right? So maybe Hanako-san isn’t the best look. But what about … and I scrolled through my Spotify until I found the sublime MUDAI album and rapid-fire toured through tracks while explaining in terrible pop-culture terminology exactly what this madcap record is, and why there’s an idol group doing whatever that all is called DAIDAIDAI and that I love them so much it hurts.

Anyway! Yeah, they were on my follow list even during hiatus, so I’m not completely out to lunch with this stuff, though yes there were things I missed and if I honk a detail here or there you can call my lawyer, capisce? But this is otherwise me catching up with DAIDAIDAI the better to get them more or less updated on the site and happy in my heart again!

So what they been up to? Oh, just the usual dropping new material and videos and stuff. But one important note: That soft reboot they underwent with the massive member overhaul? I’m not usually one to put too much on any one group’s members, and certainly not so when the core of what makes a particular idol project so good is truly in the hands of producer-san, but damn if the great didn’t get even better this spring. Like, DAIDAIDAI has always been right at the edge of sensibility and always so friggin’ good to listen to, but they’re basically tossing out gold right now, letting the reaction set in, going “BET” really loudly and then topping themselves. It’s amazing.

Catching up! This is from April and on a completely unfair level:

What?

But then they weren’t done! They also managed to release maybe the best full-length idol record this year, the 0 album, which I liked anyway but now is like my “been back for less than 2 weeks and already got opinions lead for Best Everything of the Year” because I love DAIDAIDAI and I’d mark out over a recording of the members discussing Mongolian economic policy in Sanskrit if it had a suitable DEMON TAPES beat behind it.

The whole album is delicious, by the way, and you should buy it if you haven’t already and buy it again (gift for a friend!) if you did already.

They also re-recorded(?) and re-did the MV for “ZZ Allin” — that is, as far as my brain can recall the spiraling ketamine trip that was the orignal, which is not well beyond the sensations it evoked — which remains one of my all-time favorite things in idol ever and I will absolutely slug you if you thing it doesn’t own:

Now we’re caught up with DAIDAIDAI! Unless you’re really into the, uh, this stuff: