Grimm Grimm "Hazy Eyes Maybe" (P-Vine)
While the summer's so-called city pop trend continues to dominate the Japanese indie scene, London-based musician Koichi Yamanoha delivers a melancholic album more fitting for autumn with "Hazy Eyes Maybe," his debut as Grimm Grimm.
As a former member of Screaming Tea Party, Yamanoha sticks with the psychedelic punk of his old trio but steers it toward acid folk. Rather than screaming chaotically, he whispers, and instead of an electric guitar, he filters an acoustic one through old-fashioned echo.
Album standout "Kaze ga Fuitara Sayonara" ("Goodbye When the Wind Blows") was released as a 7-inch single in 2014 from Pickpocket Records, the label co-founded by My Bloody Valentine frontman Kevin Shields. Yamanoha's vocals on the track are layered, accompanied by child-like sounding instrumentation: analog synthesizer, flute and basic percussion played in a Shugo Tokumaru style. Yamanoha's lyrics are simple, creating an impression of naivety, and when combined with the echo-soaked guitar they can sound psychedelic, but of a kind more common among Japanese artists that aims to replicate a sense of homesickness or nostalgia rather than an altered state.
Though most of the tracks on "Hazy Eyes Maybe" are simple folk songs with minimal accompaniment, "Walk Into the Cold Water With You" stands out thanks to a faster tempo more typical of new wave. Yamanoha may have been better off keeping that song for a less melancholic album, but the track is still a good listen in any case.
