Something Shining From Shimmer Shrimpmer

It’s no secret that we love Fingers Cross here, their music has been a favourite discovery from 2021. Always unafraid to say what they feel about politics or social issues, the group have a new unit formed around the theme of “the voice of the silent youth,” so get ready to listen to that voice in the form of SHIMMER SHRIMPMER!

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SIPP’s Ui Makes a Solo Play for MV-of-the-Year with “Wonderful Trip”

I’ve been trying to wrap up work and get packed so I can get on a plane for the first time in two years and fly out to Los Angeles for ATTARASHI GAKKO!’s U.S. debut at Head in the Clouds Festival.  Unfortunately, I keep get distracted by Twitter notifications of idols doing idol things. By far, the most disruptive item has been the unanticipated unveiling of this solo project from Ui of SIPP. It’s been so disruptive in fact that I’m putting my travel preparations on hold entirely so I can bang out this post on Ui’s solo debut, appropriately entitled (for my purposes anyway), “WONDERFUL TRIP”.

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Fingers Cross Bring an “Early Birth” To Cassette Tape!

Fingers Cross, the shoegazing idols from Thailand, are big faves with the Homicidols team. Really, we adore them! Cal wrote a great intro to the group, and later explored their willingness to tackle social issues with a boldness not usually associated with this genre of music. Aside from for their spectacular musical ventures, the very heart and spirit of these ladies makes for one of the more intriguing and exciting groups happening right now, and adding further proof that great idol music doesn’t end at the Japanese coastal waters.

And we’re not alone in noticing! Gerpfast Records out of Indonesia added them to their catalog of forward-thinking experimental artists. (They previously released tapes by RAY!*) Gerpfast is a label that reaches across a wide spectrum of audio treasures to release limited-edition, artfully-crafted cassette tapes, and this group suits the label’s vision perfectly. The six-song cassette is titled “Early Birth”...

 

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LiLii Kaona Celebrate Their 4th Anniversary with Dual Video Drop

Happy birthday to LiLii Kaona!! One of the most authentic and imaginative units in idol turned four years old on October1st and celebrated by sharing videos for two of their newest songs with us.  “Fragile” is a transcendent example of organica, LiLiiKao’s signature blend of organic dream pop and electronic shoegaze. Coupled with the innovative visual storytelling, and “Fragile” has easily made my short list for Best MV of 2021.

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Owaranaide, Yoru: the Neverending Night is Breaking with “Momentary Light”

Although Owaranaide, Yoru is ending their current system in less than two weeks, the nocturnal foursome are embellishing their legacy with the release of a new song and MV, “Momentary Light”.  

UPDATE:  Perhaps “Momentary Night” was indeed momentary? The MV now seems to have been made private. 

UPDATE 2: It’s public again!

The song and MV were produced as the result of a successful crowdfunding campaign from earlier in the year.  Owa Yoru have consistently operated on the high end of production and performance values, and “Momentary Light” provides an appropriately dark and opulent bookend to the tenure of the current lineup.

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NILKLY Deserves Our Full Attention

I think at some point the Homicidols team developed an unspoken understanding that now matter how hard we try to keep up with chika idol and process things as they happen, we simply will never get to talk about everything that deserves attention. Sometimes we even get a mildly snarky comment about these injustices of omission, and I have to lower my head in shame and think, “Yeah, I know…”

I’ve got a mental list in my head a mile long of groups that I want to try to cover more, and here’s a big one right at the top: NILKLY. I went back and looked and there’s only one single article about them on the entire site that Maniac Emeritus had the good wisdom to write. What a crime!! I’m sorry to the group and I’m sorry to all of you!

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re:miaw Is The Casual Idol Super Group That Just Wants To Relax…

Putting their hat into the sweepstakes of idol groups that use a “re:” prefix in their name is a fresh addition to the scene who call themselves re:miaw! This unit has been around since at least June of this year, but flying a bit under the radar, so it’s bit easy to wonder where they’ve been.

While they do have a group twitter account, they don’t have a lot of information about themselves up. I think I can explain it this way: You see, the one recurring theme I’ve noticed with this group is that they refer to themselves as only being “loosely active”. One member described re:miaw as being a “relaxing activity idol unit”. And you know what? That’s a theme I can relate to!

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Keep Your Fingers Crossed for Fingers Cross

Once again, we’ll be shifting our focus off of Japan and towards another country’s idol scene. Say hello to Fingers Cross from Thailand and their new music video for Theory!

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Rilisreverse Playback to the Start

Fresh with a new member in tow, RILISREVERSE are back with their new digital single SAISEI and we have a lot to say indeed.

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Did Any Of Us Ever Really Know Maison Book Girl?

When the original BiS arrived at their decision to disband wayyyyy back in 2014, did they ever consider how all the tangled strands of their legacy would branch out into a dozen hydra-like directions that each evolved into their own unique entities? In the moment, I recall my own bummed out reaction to the breakup quickly turning into eager excitement for the future as each member revealed their plans. There was LUI FRONTiC, Pla2me, BILLIE IDLE®︎, Tentenko’s solo experiments, and then there was one that really especially stuck out to me…. Koshouji Megumi’s newly announced “Book House Girl”, which promptly became the enigmatically named Maison book girl.

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