Let’s Discover Some Idols: MAD JAMIE

/ Homicidol Maniac

It appears to be that time of year again, folks. That’s right — it’s the time when not a whole lot goes on for about a month, so let’s discover some idols! We’re in an odd-numbered year right now, and history has shown that (idol-ly speaking) it’s the even-numbered that tend to be chock full of awesome debuts and important albums and stuff, and the odd years when things like the Mass Graduation and Disbandment of Beloved Idol Things of 2019 happen. Like, for all its warts, 2020 was a pretty okay year for debuts! And somehow, maybe because the entertainment universe held its breath for the past 12 months or maybe just in penance for the really shitty time we’ve been having as a human society, we’re still getting good ones here in 2021.

So when Mr. Toxic Breakfast himself shared this in Team Chat recently, it definitely felt like something to run with:

That’s MAD JAMIE, obviously, which, as Chris put it, “Thankfully Mad Jamie is not the local 15 year old arsonist, but is some idols.” And what idols!

And I mean that, as an expression and not just a question. This is a unit that hasn’t so much as debuted yet but has still managed to put out some of the best (if not exactly most original) stuff in the year to date.

The limited number of views on these is kind of inexplicable to me — this is a well-backed outfit — but I guess “nobody has met the group yet” plays a role. And of course well-heeled production doesn’t mean much in the end (DEEP GIRL, we remember you fondly). Will MAD JAMIE doubtlessly wind up with lots and lots of fans? I said doubtlessly, so no, but also yes. They’re like if BiSH were meant to be a pop punk unit and so went through all of those proto-emo motions, almost like their intention is to be THE idol group of preference for the people who were really into Switchfoot and Yellowcard 20 years ago and now have kids and a mortgage but still want to be able to buy albums titled things like FUCK FOREVER without actually feeling like they’re contributing to the degeneracy of society, and maybe they’ll even tell their friend Troy about it the next time he and Lori come over for burgers and beers, though of course Lori’s been a real pain in the ass about that kind of thing ever since she got religious, won’t even let the kids watch the Avengers movies because they’re too violent, and little Braelynne doesn’t like to play with them anymore and just sits in her room playing Xbox now, and honestly that t-shirt looks really cool but no way you can buy it, can’t wear it in front of the kids and the neighbors would freak (hell, BRENDA would freak and she fills up the swear jar every six weeks!), god but can you imagine how Braelynne’s prissy teacher would react if you walked into the next parent-teacher conference in that? Hilarious. Fucking suburbia, man.

So yes, speaking of FUCK FOREVER, the debut album drops roughly simultaneously with the MAD JAME debut live, which is itself so hilariously named as to make a great demonstration of Fishhook Theory, the terminus being right near “poignant.”

It’s somehow both the most 80s and most 00s thing possible

Also, yes, their handle is @kawaii_wa_fxxk​, and yes I think that’s actually super endearing even if I wish someone like RIOT BABY had used it instead

I kid, but this is good stuff, and I have a sneaking suspicion that even if the average Western wota doesn’t pick up MAD JAMIE, plenty of people actually in Japan will, and this is going to be a unit that we hear about a lot in the coming years.