You Review Things: RAY | “Pink”

Once again actually by Viz Major!

When ・・・・・・・・・ (vocalized as “Dots” or “Dots Tokyo”) emerged onto the idol scene in late 2016 with their shoegaze music and unorthodox presentation, it was a surprisingly much needed breath of fresh air from the saturated market of overcolored aesthetics and systematic cheerful, yet often contrived, songs predominant in idol culture. Along with this new approach to the genres of music that idols perform, the group attached an eccentric mythos to their profile, implementing things like all members are named ・(a single dot) but have nicknames that change every so often and go by themes such as vegetables or even infrastructures (one member was nicknamed “Konbini”, the Japanese word for “convenience store”). Visors were worn over the eyes of the members to conceal their identities, which established them as both an innovative and mysterious idol group. They quickly gained fans in not only the idol spectrum, but also among fans of shoegaze and indie rock outside of the J-pop music sphere, and in 2018 released their debut album『 』(a title with no words but actually 9 half-width spaces), which proved to be one of the best albums of that year. Unfortunately, the following year the inevitable fate which many idols have succumbed to was met, and the group was dissolved after performing a final one-man live at Tokyo Kinema Club on March 24, 2019. Continue reading

You Review Things: Viz Major on MIGMA SHELTER’s “ALICE”

Actually by @VizMajor

One of the best things about listening to a concept album is immersing yourself into the music and simultaneously living in that moment of the sounds being produced almost as if you had astral projected directly into the experience. With MIGMA SHELTER’s newly released full album “ALICE” we get transported right into the wacky, twisted, animated world of the classic story of Alice in Wonderland. Anyone familiar with the Disney animated film adaptation can take one glance at the song titles in the tracklisting and notice words or phrases that relate to the story and even see that it is also in chronological order. One thing I will recommend here: wear headphones because you will want to hear everything on this album. Continue reading

Yoneko Enters Her Post-Idol Career With Her New Single “SET FIRE TO NOW”…

Aside from the massive paychecks we receive as members of Team Homicidols, we occasionally have some other nifty perks that come our way! In particular is this instance where we were honored with a bonafide press-release (Very kindly provided by a certain western dealer of chika goods whose name rhymes with Erik. Thanks!) that allowed the Team to have a look at the MV for Yoneko‘s new single, a fiery tune called “SET FIRE TO NOW”!  *

Please understand that this MV isn’t going to be unveiled until the 22nd, so sorry, I don’t get show it to you or anything, but I can sure as heck tell you about the song, and believe me, I’m very, very eager to talk about it!!

Continue reading

You Can Listen to the APOKALIPPPS Now!

Idol supergroup APOKALIPPPS have been active for a while now, but unfortunately a bit out of reach for us Western fans. The group is still very much an indie thing and their previous singles haven’t been terribly assessable due to their limited distribution, so supporting the group has mostly consisted of cheering the group on from afar…

Well, cheer up peeps, because the APOKALIPPPS is finally reaching worldwide!

https://twitter.com/APOKALIPPPS_NOW/status/1160061863998083073?s=20

The wonder group has self-released an EP, “APOKALIPPPS ONGEN”, and it’s also seeing a digital release via the major streaming networks, so you have no excuse to sleep on it! I eagerly decided to give a listen…

Continue reading

Kai’s New MV Makes The World A Better Place…

So hot on the heels of the release of Moonlight Tokyo, (Which is excellent and brilliant and probably one of the best releases that will come out this year.) Kai and TRASH-UP!! Records have followed up with an MV for the song “Himitsu No Tobira”.

As I mentioned in the review, this is one of my personal favorite tunes on the EP, with it’s uplifting organ groove and cool little xylophone vibes. I loved this song, and now here comes an MV that takes something already great and elevates to an even higher plane!

Continue reading

That Time OYSM & Necroma Performed At a Mausoleum

The latest adventure in the USA with NECRONOMIDOL (This time accompanied by Oyasumi Hologram.) has come to a close! It’s always fun to take in the experience through the eyes of other fellow fans as these shows make their way across the tour, and get a new perspective of these events as other people see them. As circumstances would have it, Team Homicidols was unable to represent at this tour, mainly because real life is stupid and piles on it’s own commitments. Perhaps one day, idols will overthrow the wicked forces that run this world, oppressively placing demands upon us that distract from what’s really important, which is going to idol mass and paying proper respects to our deities.

Until that day happens, we thankfully have wonderful friends of Homicidols like Killer Cashew. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting the Cashew and Asto, his partner in crime, and they’re terrific people who deserve great experiences like this tour. I’m glad that they were able to enjoy the show, and I’m indebted to Mr. Cashew for taking time to contribute an account of the evening in his own words. Let’s read about the fine art and dark visions he witnessed! 

Hi, Killer Cashew here. Normally I’m a quiet follower of the Homicidol community, but due to circumstances, none of the usual contributors were able to attend the Oyasumi Hologam/NECRONOMIDOL leg of the crowdfunded world tour. I was asked if I wanted to share some details of my experience and so here we are…

Continue reading

Kerrie Reviews Things Sleepily: THE BANANA MONKEYS | “Goodbye, Hello”

Guys, I’m a dum-dum. Now, if you’ve been following this website for any period of time you’ll already know that, but seriously, I’m a dum-dum. Over an entire month since I announced this release (among other things) and still I waited, impatiently. “Aagh, when will they hurry up and start selling this EP somewhere other than their live shows? It’s not even on their website!”. Then reader and Friday Fun regular Chris dropped a bombshell on me:

“Why don’t you just get it on Ototoy you cretin?”

Ototoy. Of course.

Surprise surprise, there it was. Right there. The “September 10th” release date almost taunting me.

Well, whatever, this isn’t the first sleepy review I’ve written long after the actual release date. Actually, I don’t think any of my reviews so far have been on time. Kind of a downside of being sleepy, you see. Tiredness slows you down. And, on two days without sleep, I think now’s a better time than any to get this month-old draft out of the way. Continue reading

Kerrie Reviews Things Sleepily: Wagamama Kiite | ‘for my Dear’

Let me tell you a story, while I’m still awake and waiting for my CD to arrive in the mail. A story that starts in early 2017. It was the beginning of the first WACK audition (y’know, the one that brought us Momoland, Pan Luna Leafy and EMPiRE? Yeah, that one) and the happy (but not for long) campers were gradually being revealed on Twitter. The first girl to be shown was “Cent Chihiro Tatta”.

I thought “She’s really pretty, I wonder how well she’ll do?”, as Watanabe continued to reveal more auditionees. One of the next girls to catch my eye was Michihayashi Rio. I thought “Wow! She’s adorable in that sort-of awkward way I love! I hope we get to see more of her!”

More and more audition profiles started, a few more girls caught my eye, I was excited for what’s to come. But then everyone I was rooting for failed the audition anyway, I was bitter, yadda yadda. Eventually, I found out one of the girls I really liked had gone on to do Miss iD and I was happy again. But I was still, in the back of my mind, wondered, “Whatever came of those other audition girls I liked?”

Fast forward to July 2018, in the WACK Discord, where the subject of Wagamama Kiite?? came up. “Hey, did you know a couple of the girls from the 2017 WACK audition are in this group?”

I looked them up and there they were! Tatta (now Moe) and Shirio (now Asaka)!

I was hyped! More girls from the audition out there doing new things! I vowed, “I was rooting for Asaka in the auditions, I’ll root for her in her new career too!” and went on to order their debut EP, “for my Dear”, which only just arrived on my doorstep yesterday.

Anyway, Kiite have a new single out next month, so what better time to review their first release while horribly sleep-deprived? Other than when it actually came out, I mean. Continue reading

Kerrie Reviews Things Sleepily: O’CHAWANZ | “Episode V” or, O’CHAWANZ’s Adventures in Blackpool

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been on a real O’CHAWANZ kick as of late. It was to be expected I suppose; Sugarsugar Lala was my Koutei Camera Girl Zwei oshi, so it would have been hard for me to feel let truly down by any future endeavors she got herself into. What I had heard from O’CHAWANZ so far was pretty decent in my opinion, but then the actual masterpiece that was I.YA.DA came along and I was pulled into rice bowl oblivion so forcefully that I could almost feel myself being suffocated by carbohydrates. These girls had got me good.

Anyway, their debut album, Episode V, came out this week, and I was thrilled to learn that it had made its way to international iTunes too! (Big thanks to our own Supreme Nothing for the heads up.) Originally, I was just going to buy the album and enjoy it privately as normal, but, well, the disaster that was 3776-chan’s Wild Ride was a surprise hit for the site, so I thought I might as well take advantage of my crippling insomnia once again. Continue reading

We Review Things: The tipToe./Dots Split Single is a Concoction of Fizzy Goodness


DIY rock bands figured out a long time ago that the “split-single” is a great way for fledgling artists to achieve the milestone of getting a record out there. Two bands chip in their money, and each gets one side of a 45 rpm vinyl record, ready to share with the masses. And for music lovers, it’s a pretty nifty deal as well, cause for a low price point,

you could take a chance on hearing two new bands you might happen to dig. It’s a great punk-rock tradition that plenty of bands still carry on today. 

And now here come two darlings on the indie-idol set, tipToe. (That’s how you stylize the type.) and ········· (You know, Dots.) with a split/collaboration single entitled “Tokyo Sentimental”. The two groups have been friendly buds for a while now since they shared a bill in which the tipToe. girls surprised the audience by coming out on stage wearing the Dots’ patented visors and vintage dresses and paying a little tribute to the ethereal idols. It was a fun little moment that brought tipToe. to my attention for the first time, and thanks very much for that! 

So how’s the single? “Tokyo Sentimental” is only four songs and it’s quick listen, and the two groups make the most of the brevity.  Continue reading