Today we, once again, turn our site over to BobIsRandom, denizen of the Homicidols Discord Server and REBEL REBEL’s number one overseas fan.
For any other readers out there who have the urge to put into writing their thoughts and feelings about an idol unit, album, MV or event, feel free to forward unpublished articles to daemetal@gmail.com and we will consider posting it here on Homicidols.
Can you believe it? It’s been 3 years since I wrote the first “catch up” column about REBEL REBEL. My 7th ever message in the Homicidols Discord was about REBEL REBEL, and also a bit over 3 years ago. Time really does fly. But in the ever changing world of idol, I’m really glad I’m still here getting to talk about them. There were some ups and downs in these three years, but this catch up is only about the positives.
Since this is a catch up, let’s dive right in. We left off in that last column by talking about REBEL REBEL’s “No Cheating” EP. For reasons that will be more clear later, I’d like to mention that if their first album “Beyond the Law” was REBEL REBEL “1.0”, and their “Second Coming” was REBEL REBEL “2.0”, then “No Cheating” was likely the start of version “3.0.” They became something musically that is more a hybrid of the “Beyond the Law” electronic pop and the “Second Coming” funk/alternative rock sounds. But they also developed an even bigger willingness to get more eclectic since the soundscape this catch up covers expands to include genres like shoe gaze and ska, among others.
After the release of “No Cheating,” REBEL REBEL began a series of singles in a lead up to their third album, including a solo outing from CAN MEET CHANG. All of these songs and b-sides can be heard in MV form on Spiritwalker’s channel but I’ll highlight the most MV of these MVs (should I call it the “MVP MV”?), “READY TO GO”:
The songs from these singles all ended up on REBEL REBEL’s third album “TEN STORIES,” along with some entirely new songs. The releases of these singles can no longer be purchased on Spiritwalker’s store but you can still buy “TEN STORIES.” I mention this to brag that I own these singles. What fun is it to write a guest column for an online blog if you can’t utilize the platform to flex your otaku-ness?
For TEN STORIES I’ll highlight my favorite new track on the album “Dance Into The Night,” though obviously I recommend checking out the entire album:
Post TEN STORIES was another slate of singles, this time without building up to inclusion in another album. This includes the aforementioned eclectic-ness, like the shoe gaze-y “Smoke”:
And the B-Side on this single, “Rain Rhyme”, is also very much worth listening to.
Next up was the literal single “STEREO ATTACK”:
And at the same time they released a streaming-only cover of an RC Succession song, a band who was an inspiration to REBEL REBEL’s producer.
Next up is the excellent EP-that’s-not-an-EP-because-it-was-released-as-4-singles-online-but-2-physical-CDs. This continues the eclectic train with a ska outing. I’ll highlight the EP-that’s-not-… err, the “EP” with an MV, “Jam”:
I also highly recommend checking out Rillsoul’s two tracks “Online dreamer” and “Through the night.” Honestly, two of my favorite tracks he’s ever written for REBEL REBEL. … Oh, what the heck. I’m sure Homicidols can handle one more link inclusion. After all, I’m not running the place hahaha
They also released two other singles, “Hookup” and “Lovers,” neither of which is online as far as I know, which is unfortunate because “Hookup” is great. Physical copies of “Hookup” are available for sale online, and I own a copy. Again, I’m here to brag. I don’t own “Lovers” however, so if you’re reading this and you own it, please don’t tell me. I can’t feel like the biggest REBEL REBEL fan if you tell me something like that.
And finally, we catch up with their recent fourth album “THIS IS THE ONE.” As mentioned near the beginning of the article, REBEL REBEL entered what felt like a version “3.0” period with “No Cheating,” and I think “THIS IS THE ONE” is the culmination of that. The album as a whole feels like a cohesive culmination of all the sounds that they’ve explored in the lead up to this album post “Zugzwang.” There’s a lot of nice moments in this album, such as the Bjork-esque ending to the opening track “Deep Inside”. And the MV for the excellent “Marble Flash” was recently highlighted in a recent Weekender. For this article I will highlight what seems to be a favorite around the Homicidols Discord, the atmospheric ending track “Swallow”:
Now that we’ve caught up, I’d like to briefly get personal. If you don’t want to keep reading, just know that the takeaway is: REBEL REBEL is awesome. I do hope, however, that everyone involved in REBEL REBEL reads this.
Around the Discord I’m known to be a very vocal and unabashed REBEL REBEL fan. Sometimes it’s a bit tongue-in-cheek hyperbole. But I don’t want to undersell how much I like the music of this group. I may be a terrible idol fan, because I don’t get to attend concerts, and I don’t order cheki or do any of the other things that idol fans do. I may be too introverted and shy to throw myself into being social with whatever fandom might exist out there. I don’t even know what other REBEL REBEL fans think of me when they read whatever I tweet out. But I’d like to attempt to seriously talk about my love for REBEL REBEL here.
My history of music is an odd, bumpy road. I did not own many albums as a kid. I didn’t get to listen to the radio much. My love of music was birthed mostly from video game soundtracks on the NES and soundtracks from movies and TV. It wasn’t until college that my musical world expanded with rock on the local radio station in my car, or my friend’s CD collection. I clearly found music I liked in all this. Music that I would listen to on repeat. But most music fell into a range from “great” to “meh.” But occasionally there would be music that had a profound effect on me. One prominent example was Radiohead and their “Kid A” album, an album that was once called the “greatest album of all time” by a prominent music publication. Specifically, I remember “National Anthem” blowing my mind. It created a love for Radiohead so deep that I anticipated every new release thereafter.
I say all this to say that REBEL REBEL is like Radiohead to me. Maybe not similar in musical styles or production, but a similar profound shift in my love of music. I had first heard REBEL REBEL around the release of “Second Coming.” It would have been a now-unavailable MV for either “Burn the Light” or “Rollin.” I first heard both around the same time. I liked both songs enough to buy the albums that were available, and their next EP. It was hearing Zugzwang for the first time that flipped a switch and gave me a profound love and respect for everything REBEL REBEL was doing. I had been anticipating Zugzwang based on their previous releases, but it exceeded my already high expectations. This respect has continued to this day. Anytime I listen to REBEL REBEL after any sort of break, even if I’ve heard the music many, many times, I’ll still find myself thinking “this is really good music.”
I think everyone who has been involved in writing music for REBEL REBEL, including Hideki and Rillsoul, are great at what they do. And I can genuinely feel Keisuke Hirayasu’s (their producer) love of music. And, of course, REBEL REBEL would not be REBEL REBEL without the talents of its members CAN MEET CHANG, Akari, Karen, Chiyu, and everyone who has ever contributed. To everyone involved in REBEL REBEL’s creation and continuation, thank you for all you do. Just know that whatever happens, you have at least one fan for life here. A fan of that which transcends time and language and boundaries: the music. I sincerely hope I’ll be able to write another catch up article two years from now, and get to talk about even more REBEL REBEL releases. Who knows, maybe there will even be a REBEL REBEL “4.0” evolution.
