GANG PARADE is killing it; it is known. Also known — that this song was recalling a little bit more of the earlier days of the group, more Pla2me than anything. It got the Soundcloud release treatment a little while back, and most folks took it as a net positive anyway, and were excited for the “BREAKING THE ROAD” A-side (which is excellent).
Whether an MV was inevitable, that’s debatable, but seeing it leaves me contemplating the inevitability of death and why I need to medicate less when gross bugs are going around the office:
Can we take a second to consider a few things? I’ve been doing that a lot. I wasn’t always a POP PARADE supporter, but this post-WACK Fes iteration of the project has grown on me — first musically, as the turn away from more idol-inclined stuff to Whatever the Hell has been a real joy to experience, but more importantly from a presentation standpoint. Latter-day BiS hasn’t operated with the same level of intensity as the original, for better or worse; BiSH, while having the best Best of anybody, has largely retreated to safer territory as their star rises ever onward; EMPiRE is interesting, but very new, and likely constrained by Avex. Whither, then, GANG PARADE, who’ve been on a rampage of bizarre artistic choices and stop-letting-the-drunk-intern-into-the-booth music going back at least to last summer’s “Beyond the Mountain” (which, for the record, has aged incredibly well in retrospect).
Juxtapose this one, and “BREAKING THE ROAD”, and that wild run back in the fall, with what’s still the wildest swerve in WACK history (“Happy Lucky Kirakira Lucky”) and maybe the highest point for POP, and then tell me that the SiSastrophe wasn’t accidentally the single best artistic move that the company ever pulled off. Even that took a while!
It’s such a wild process when you think about it. I feel like I’m repeating a lot from the earlier post, but so what? The point remains, and if anybody can point to a better coalescence of idol possibilities — one part early Especia, one part PSYBOU KANOJO, one part classic BiS, then stir, and strain over ice — I’m yet to see it.
I’m actually now hoping not just that the Aya-Saki swap-back doesn’t happen, but is an elaborate ruse of some sort to preserve the union, so to speak. Like, Watanabe (again) positions himself as the villain, and the GP members revolt to save their new-found leader, and BiS won’t give up Saki because Lui’s on her way out the door and Pan Luna isn’t ready yet, and the whole thing is a massive shit show.
A guy can hope.
I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of praising Watanabe. The man is either the most genius mastermind of recent memory, or the luckiest fool of all time; either way, the man is a legend.
Though I will say, in one of his recent interviews, he said that he was going to announce BiSH’s May Yokohama show as their disbandment, playing on BiS’ history, with the intent of coming out on stage at the show and saying, “just kidding”. I probably would’ve hated him for that, but whatever, it didn’t happen.
As I said in another comment before, I really like that they’re throwing so much muscle behind Gang Parade this year, while still having BiSH technically doing things on the side while I’m sure the third Avex record is being written (I dug the Marty Friedman track even with its bizarre moments [which I can send to you if you need]).
Also, I agree about the swap; I think both girls fit far better in their current projects than before.
Also, I don’t know why it keeps switching my profiles/accounts, but whatever. Lol
Because WordPress …
Man, I don’t know how exactly I’d react to a Watanabe like that (yes, he’s basically a gerund now), but I do know exactly how great the wota tears would be, and great would they be indeed.