Kinoue64 – 大人になる

Japan has an uncanny knacked of producing bands that not only nail the shoegaze sound but also evolve it too. kinoue64 is exactly that kind of band. This is my first time writing about the Hiroshima based project, so 大人になる, which translates as Becoming an Adult, becomes my doorway into a catalogue already full of fuzz, melody, Vocaloid culture and tender overload. Now I should kick off here by saying I know nothing about this band. It’s really hard to find out any info on who they are but from what I can gather this is a solo project with a long-varied history

Releases such as 空間、事情、時間、事象。, The Time Machine School, 半永久機関 and 日常消滅 show a project moving between shoegaze, indie rock, alternative rock and Mikgazer ideas, with Hatsune Miku and kinoue64’s own voice both forming part of the story. 大人になる lands as a concise eight track record that has had me in its spell since first listen. Let’s dive in because I’m dying to tell you all about it.

The opener shares its name with the album and it’s a real scene setter. The drums sound distorted and raw which gives the atmospheric synth and jangly guitars something to play off. Vocal wise its Miku style creating this weirdly wonky vibe that sucked me in immediately. Holding it all down is a killer melody and that’s the secret sauce. All the effected parts add the fairy dust on top to make it truly magical/

‘幸せ’, which I think means ‘Happiness’, is a bite sized aural treat. It distils the approach of the opener into this tasty little morsel. The tremolo synth part lifts the melody and gives your ear something new to fixate about.

‘才能’, translated as ‘Talent’, brings an indie sensibility into the room. The drums, now more real sounding, move with more insistence, the guitars pick out the melody and flare around the vocal. The vocal retains its weird pitched up Miku effect but it weirdly suits this more straightforward song. Well, as straightforward as a kinoue64 song can be.

At one minute and thirty-six seconds, ‘没’ feels like a thought that has been crossed out in thick pen. The title can be read as ‘Scrapped’ or ‘Rejected’, and I like ‘Scrapped’ in the context of this record because it has a blunt little sting to it. This is a game of two halves. One fast and frenetic and the other mellow and moody. How is it possible to be this musically generous in such a short span of time. Hats off from me.

‘工作’ carries the sense of ‘Making’ or ‘Construction’, and it arrives at exactly the right point in the album. After talent and rejection, we get the act of building again. The song feels assembled from scuffed pieces, with guitar lines layered around a rhythm section that keeps the whole thing shuffling along. The pop aesthetic is maintained and honed further with a chorus that really connects, maybe not verbally, due to my monolinguistic limitations, but the feeling is there, all warm and fuzzy.

By the time ‘捨てる’ arrives, the album takes off. The title means ‘To Throw Away’ or ‘Discard’ but this isn’t any throw away number. The guitars feel heavier and more textured. Vocally it’s still Miku but more up front and present if you get what I mean. Again, there’s a tangible warmth in the melody and vocal delivery that elevates this song into a stone-cold bop.

The most weirdly funny title here might be ‘まともになる’, which translates as ‘Becoming Normal’ or ‘Becoming Proper’. After everything the album has already put on the table, normality starts to sound like the strangest idea of all. The song has a more direct melodic shape, and there is a pop instinct running beneath it all that makes it one of the record’s most immediate moments. The guitars are cleaner here and pick out a gentle melody. The vocals really stretch out in the chorus sections lifting you up and sending you skywards.

The album ends with ‘ゴミ’, meaning ‘Rubbish’ or ‘Trash’, which feels like the only possible place to leave a record this tangled up in growing pains. It is a wonderfully blunt title, and kinoue64 gives it more emotional reach than you might expect. The guitars spread out with a weary glow and the drums keep the track grounded. The melody makes you feel like you are standing among all the things the previous songs tried to name. Happiness, talent, rejection, making, discarding, normality. By the closer, they have all become part of the same pile. What makes ‘ゴミ’ work is the way it treats rubbish as something human rather than merely ugly. These are the scraps left over from trying, failing, starting again and trying once more. As a final song, it leaves the album open ended in the right way,

By the end of 大人になる, kinoue64 has made a record that turns growing up into a series of small, noisy reckonings. I’m so glad I happened across this album. I can’t tell you how much joy I’ve had soaking up its many textures. For a first Static Sounds Club encounter with kinoue64, this feels like the right introduction: fuzzy, direct, strange, tuneful and full of feeling. I’m really going to enjoy exploring the back catalogue and I’ll be hoping that we get a vinyl release for this one.

大人になる is out now. You can check it out over on the kinoue64 Bandcamp page.

You can follow kinoue64 on social media here…

• Bandcamp
• Instagram
• LinkTree