Anata Wa Sukkari Tsukarete Shimai – Horror Punks EP [Rack & Ruin]

Coming on like a fucked up noise driven glitch addled punk pop hybrid Anata Wa Sukkari Tsukarete Shimai is the latest project from the enigma that is _ from Japan and Bradford’s Gnomefoam and Bunny. It’s hard to explain exactly what kind of music lays within this seven track EP, which you can download for free on the fantastic net label Rack & Ruin. You could say that this is the flip side to the project AWSTS did for Bearsuit (words on the way soon), which was mellow and glitchy this one is insane, a no holds barred journey into the unknown and you know what its loads of fun.

The gentle opener ‘Evergreen no niwa ni kirisame’ opens with sweet Japanese lyrics and what sounds like an accordion before looping into some crunchy beats and eerie electronics. The Punkieness of the title really kicks off on track two which comes off like an insane Go Team! But with lo-fi noisy guitars and descends into a thrashy metal like beast at the end. You really don’t know what’s coming next with AWSTS right after the full on thrash of ‘I wish they all could be horror punks’ comes the quirky dreamy off key poppieness of Persistent damp problems haunt my keyboard’ which sounds like its been made out of clockwork robots.

An un-doubted highlight for me is ‘Moisture container and the pain in my arm’ with its catchy melody and fuzzed out distorted lyrics that echo the title as a lonesome guitar and electronics try and freak the shit out of you. The next track somehow reminds me of a twisted hip-hop track if it wasn’t so off the wall you could imagine Biggie Smalls rhyming against the breaks and strings. This idea is only enhanced for me when the piano loop of ‘Lost in the forest of blank sportswear’ comes in but then soon gets dismissed when the track melts into a freaked out noisy ballad with fuzzy buzzy sounds and pluck melodies that give way to distorted melancholic guitars, wonderful. The EP closer does exactly what it says on the tin ‘Goodbye Until We Meet Again’…

The two combine forces to create a strange skewed vision of punky pop played though found sounds and electronics, its music made by any means necessary. The Horror Punks EP is experimental by nature but still manages to twist out some song-like wonders, its almost like switching on the radio and surfing the airwaves, once in a while a song pops out of the fuzz. This juxtaposition of all out freewheeling experimentation and catchiness brings a joyous energy to the EP that gets under your skin.

http://www.myspace.com/awsts

http://www.myspace.com/gnomefoam

http://www.myspace.com/deconstructivism

http://www.rackandruinrecords.com/