ANORAK! - Self-actualization and the ignorance and hesitation towards it

The album opens with "Sonic", led by a deep 5-string bass, glittering guitar arpeggios, and muffled screaming over a sick-ass drum and bass break. They're letting us know that they're not the same band they were on ANORAK!, and they're not changing in half measures. They're back, and they have a sampler now.

Those are words that have struck fear into many a rock fan since the '80s. Japanese two-handed tappers ANORAK! return with a new sound on their unweildily-titled sophomore album, which I'm just gonna abbreviate as SAATIAHTI. The integration of heavy vocal tuning, glitchy synthesizer samples, and even a feature from Tokyo rapper Mitch bring the mid-10s emo rap scene to mind (please don't ask me to guess what artist they're drawing inspiration from with these production choices, I like the rock I live under). I made sure to go in with an open mind. If a band like Cheem could make the transition from emo band with reggae influences to full-on rap-rock, why can't these guys switch up their sound?

It should once again be mentioned that 'nihongo wakarimasen'. I don't speak a lick of Japanese, and I'm not nearly as deep in the (seemingly thriving) east Asian emo scene as I am in the USican one. Even if they're not literally saying it in the lyrics, this album is a bit more "tonight/alright" than their last one, even just judging from the English parts. Instead of leaning into longing and self-loathing, there are songs on SAATIAHTI that almost feel... sexy. Take "Summertime" for example. It's probably the catchiest song on the album. Jersey club kick. All-fundamental bass. The guitar parts are more Nile Rodgers than Edgar Vivieros. It's smooth, fun pop music.

On the other side of the spectrum, "New Grass" is the darkest that that I've heard ANORAK! go. It starts with a long, minor-key, post-rocky intro that segues into a math rock groove for the main body of the song. The riff sounds like stoner-rock greats Elder. The performances are great all over. Tomoho Maeda and Crystal Kato are slathered in autotune all over this album, but the tunes they're singing are solid, and the vocal effects are only annoying on "Still Life" and "Birdhouse". "Canary" is probably the song closest to the style of ANORAK!, and Kotaro Nakamura and Mikuru Yamamoto are absolutely locked in tight.

Overall, everything is less acrobatic on this album, more groove-oriented, more bass-forward. Transitions are less whipsaw. Cheem is actually a really good point of comparison. Songs like Username, and Twelve sound like Cheem if they had a tappier reference point during their emo phase; Cheem also pulled the same 'Nujabes outro' trick ANORAK does on "Sonic" on several tracks on their most recent record, Power Move.

I complained about the somewhat unfortunate packaging on the self-titled ANORAK! album, so I am pleased to report that their sophomore effort is more polished in its minimalism. The combination of dappled 3D graphics, wide text, and a mouse-drawn sketch looks like the cover of an abandoned Radiohead x Aphex Twin album. While there's still no pocket inside the front cover, the charming handwritten lyric booklet is grippy and not nearly as likely to slip out as the one on ANORAK!. One of my other complaints about the otherwise-immaculate debut album was the short songs. SAATIAHTI fixes that somewhat, with two songs (alt rocker "New Grass" and closer "Birdhouse") reaching the four minute mark. They're still not great at transitioning between songs, and this album could have used a better sequence. Still, there's way more bangers than flops or even merely good songs.

I have been putting off reviewing this record for a while because it was difficult to figure out what I genuinely thought about it. I liked the split they put out with Signals Midwest, and the Fav Riff EP did a better job at balancing glitch and twinkle. I don't want to punish a band for developing their songwriting or exploring a new style. They're also the band that every current-wave emo band from the USA tours with when they go to Japan. While this is a record that shows growth and change, it also moves away from the songwriting tendencies and performance styles that made me fall in love with them in the first place. I'm always going to have ANORAK! on my shelf, but I'm not so confident that I will reach for SAATIAHTI as often. But I do reach for it. It has grown on me over the course of the past year. This album shows off a band that is pushing themselves as songwriters, and us as listeners, out of a narrow framing of what the current scene is.

Self-actualization and the ignorance and hesitation towards it by ANORAK! is a good album, and I like it.