Here is my idol song top 10. I wish I had something witty to say to introduce my list, but I’ll bare my heart in each song’s description instead. I’d just like to say that with the exception of my top pick (somehow!), I have all these songs taking up precious space on my phone because I know I’ll never get sick of any of them. If I could get them into my body for easier listening, I would. That’s how committed I am to each item of this list.
Let’s get to it!
Hey there, Cal here. I’m Homicidols’ pin-up mascot, treasurer and I also lie for fun sometimes. I don’t normally write in first person so forgive me if I seem like a fish out of water. If you read the first entry in our personal top 10’s series, you’ll see Dae mention that I had this idea thinking it’ll be fun and it ended up being a little gruelling. He was 100% correct, I like too many songs to pick just 10! It’s like drawing blood from a stone, a really sexy stone with immaculate music taste.
When it comes to things like this, I prefer to separate things into different categories such as “music that has a personal meaning for me” or “music to touch the stove to” or “music that makes me want to run screaming into traffic.” I listen to a lot of idol songs, like a lotttttt, so in the end, I just ended up picking the best of the best from various criterias. So this list kind of ended up being a mix of the sentimental to the slappers. Please enjoy it.
It’s Monday, so let’s get emotional!
The idea for this match-up was sparked a couple weeks ago when the fabulously-named On the Treat Super Season dropped their latest (excellent) single, “Emotion”. That very the same day, melly, over on the Homicidols Discord Server, recommended GANG PARADE’s “Karada Emotion” for the Homicidols Weekend Radio playlist. This got me thinking about the sheer number of alternative idol songs that incorporate the word, “emotion” into their titles including my favorite track by Q’ulle and that PIGGS tune that keeps getting stuck in my head.
With all of these Emotions vying for our attention, it’s only appropriate we try to sort them out and determine, once and for all, what is the dominant Emotion?
When Kerrie spread word of the WACK train, I had to say, I was intrigued.
Did WACK make their own version of Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari?
We lost so many veteran and A-list talents last year that there were thoughts that 2022 would have a dearth of compelling new chika idol releases. To our surprise, the first several months of this new year have instead seen veteran idols producing some of their best ever work while new units have been dropping captivating releases from the word, “Go!” We usually wait until much later in the year to start tossing around contenders for “Best of the Year” nods, but Team Homicidols is finding ourselves so overwhelmed by the volume, diversity and quality of new music that we felt it was important to make some mid-year citations for posterity.
Never a dull moment at camp WACK eh? Their OG group has had a tumultuous but dynamic history, changing up their sound multiple times and doing some absolute insane stunts to get attention. That’s right, GANG PARADE are back from the dead with a new single and music video but this time, they aren’t planning on leaving.
If you haven’t been keeping up with the news lately, this might come as a major shock: AKB48’s Kashiwagi Yuki (also known as Yukirin) joined every single WACK group at once! How do some people find the time, honestly.
We have hit the half-way point of our attempt to capture some of the greatness that the alternative, indie and underground idols of Japan have contributed to the world over the past ten years. If you would like a recap of the methodology we used to arrive at the album rankings, please visit week one’s installment. If you missed last week’s post or want a refresher of the albums that placed 31st – 40th, you can find that here.
Now, on with the next ten albums in the countdown plus one honorable mention that fell just a little bit short of the top 50:
When future music historians look back at the history of the genre the English-speaking world, for lack of a better term, generally refers to as “Alternative Idol”, the decade of 2010 to 2020 will be seen as foundational. Underground idol in Japan has been around since at least the late 90s, hard rock composers were penning songs for idol units in the mid 2000s, and indie idol has probably existed since the birth of the idol genre itself. However, it was the year 2010 when the momentum of disparate events would begin to coalesce and eventually define the broad genre we know and love today. That year’s creation and subsequent seismic success of BiS and BABYMETAL would inspire the formation of hundreds of punk and metal idol units. At the same time, the zeitgeist of the early 2010s independently birthed several other less prominent but just as significant influences. Bellring Girls Heart, You’ll Melt More, Especia and others emerged to embrace an edgier and more avant-garde approach to idol, crafting the sounds and sensibilities of post- and pop-punk, new wave, techno and progressive rock into something entirely new. These early groups inspired both creative composers and adventurous music fans to embrace independent and underground idol as an effective medium for expressing almost every subgenre of rock, hip hop and electronica. Over the past decade, alternative Japanese idol has grown into a world class laboratory for the creation of some of the most innovative music on the planet. Continue reading
Well now. After a year of delays it finally happened and GANG PARADE are finally just another memory for all of us. But just because it’s a memory doesn’t mean it’s gone – the new GO TO THE BEDS song from their upcoming EP BLOOD COMPACT has a melody that you might have heard LAST time…
