Asobi Seksu Citrus by: Steve Scully Mon:04-Jun-07 Label: Friendly Fire Year: 2006 WB rating 70 out of 100

Asobi Seksu sound like so many bands. You could drop them into numerous little categories; they’re like the tiny circle of a peg that fits into every hole you can throw it at. You could say, “Sonic Youth”, and you most probably would say, “My Bloody Valentine!” What’s certain, however, is that if you’ve never listened to either of these bands, don’t care what shoegazing is, and don’t consider yourself a ‘student’ of modern music, you won’t know what all this is about. Comparisons and categorisations won’t draw you in; you’ll just be bored shitless. Instead, I’ll say this: Asobi Seksu are a pop band, vocals very much in the background, full of loud, many-times-overdubbed guitars, ambient synth atmosphere, and driven by upbeat rhythms. Citrus is a lovely listen, one that may make you want to dance, one that will lift your mood a little with every listen.

Songs such as ‘Thursday’ and ‘Goodbye’ typify the album’s mission statement. Full of a dark ‘80’s pop feel, indecipherable vocal lines and roaring guitars, the tracks are as well-suited to a lazy sunny day as they are to an indie-disco dance-fest, pervaded as they are with up-tempo beats and an overwhelming sense of positivity.

Ever-so-subtle punk edginess, and anything-but-subtle production, aid Asobi Seksu in leading the listener through choruses that are a mix of screaming guitars, belting rhythms and simple vocal melodies. Exhibiting only a ‘by-the-numbers’ approach to pop song structure, however, you do sense that Asobi Seksu, without the aid of production, and setting aside the bells and whistles (literally, they use bells and whistles… and a toy piano), there’s little here borne of truly imaginative songwriting. Undoubtedly fun and full of irrepressible energy, if reports of their live shows are anything to go by, the band only sporadically produce the striking.

‘Exotic Animal Paradise’ – one of the better track names I’ve come across – is one of these stand-out tracks, and it offers Citrus’ most poignant music experiment, as well as serving as well-needed respite from the record’s oppressive onslaught of pop-optimism. With a very pleasant viola and somewhat superfluous toy piano now in the mix, the group’s instrumentation takes a further turn towards the experimental, but the most impressive part of this track is definitely its variety. This time, the chorus is an exercise in minimalism, bringing the listener down from the verses into a more intimate and pleasantly atmospheric realm. The lyrics too are now audible, and thankfully so. Singer Yuki Chikudate suffers from her vocals being mixed-down in the production throughout the album, as well as from her natural inclination towards poor enunciation when she’s not singing in Japanese. But in this track, we finally gain an insight into her rather potent talent for accessible, if simplistic, lyricism: “If there’s a reason/for all this crying/you let me know/while you’re deciding”. Such human sentiments as these are lacking for the most part on Citrus, which for all its fun and fluffy-pop appeal, is not the emotionally engaging experience that the music warrants.

Pop-excess and twee vocals galore, Citrus is a triumph in terms of production and sound engineering, but relatively light on in the songwriting stakes. Although it will get your toes tapping, and you may be left humming the catchy melodies of ‘New Years’ or ‘Lions & Tigers’, if you’re searching for mind-blowing innovation, this is not where to look. So, forget about their influences and don’t try to pigeon-hole them. Instead, just let Asobi Seksu charm you with their whimsy. You may have heard something like it before, and you’ll most likely hear something like it again, but don’t let such musical snobbery stand between you and a good, solid, fun listening experience.