TIF Idol Primer: Don’t Call It a Comeback, but monogatari

/ Homicidol Maniac

Among the many notable idols that you should be flocking to TIF to see this weekend are idols that you probably never heard of, probably never even thought to check out. But if you’re there for fun rock sounds and those crucial acts that smudge the line between “idols the way that people usually think of that” and “blood-spitting thrashcore chika darlings,” you’ll be pleased to know that there are options!

In this case, I, uh … well, the truth is, this group isn’t totally unknown around here. Just hold on a second (and let that terrible dad joke wash over your soul).

There. Look familiar? Sound familiar! Maybe! That’s monogatari, or Harajuku Monogatari, as they used to be known. I have nothing on how or why the group re-branded/booted/broonted, but here we are, and their second single in this iteration will be out on Tuesday, and:

Correct. If you’re thinking, hey, that sounds like Kentacore, it’s because the two-headed monster of Matsukuma & Watanabe LLC wrote the thing.

And no, that doesn’t mean that monogatari is like an honorary cousin of the WACK family; SCRAMBLES in fact has credits all over the idol scene, as does Jun-Jun. It’s kind of weird at first, but it’s kind of like Christopher Cross or Burt Bacharach scoring hits while also writing hits for others. Music is a strange place!

Anyway, monogatari already did their set for today, but you can catch them tomorrow and Sunday. And you should probably keep your eye on them, because I get a distinctly Task have Fun / Osaka Shunkashuto vibe from them; they’re already making noise and have the kind of look and sound that can emerge from TIF as one of the big breakouts.