MUSIC REVIEW | Flowing Like Water, TsuShiMaMiRe Creates Beautiful Chaos

It’s a fact that when a TsuShiMaMiRe song hits your ears, you can’t help but concoct some mayhem. For twenty-five years, the trio has smashed, kicked, and even danced their way through clubs all over the world. With Mari’s cute vocals, Yayoi’s demonic bass playing, and Maiko’s explosive drumming, TsuShiMaMiRe have shone as one of the most exciting and unique punk acts in the world. Their new album Mizumono, #16 in their original record count, demonstrates why the band’s sound and energy has aged like a fine wine.

Opener “Show You My Soy Sauce” is a prime example of what makes a solid TsuShiMaMiRe song. Originally appearing on an [adult swim] compilation album, the track has Mari’s trademark speedy vocals, with her bandmates easily catching up with their rambunctious playing. “24030”, the zip code of the band’s own (metaphorical) town, is a groovy surf rock that calls back to Dick Dale and GitoGito Hustler. However, out of left field is “Double Kick Punch”, a Celtic-styled track that’s only missing Dave King and a pair of bagpipes to get the party cranking to 11!

“Pressure Drop” may be a song about having no energy and whacked-out hormones, but the band still sounds like they’re having a ball expressing it. “Color” attempts to find meaning in a lonely world, and why it doesn’t matter if success or failure is the result. In a move similar to Electric Eel Shock’s recent album, the band revisits an old song with “BAKA MOTO KAREE”, but with a twist. In the past, Mari was throwing out her stupid ex; today, she hopes to bring him back. It asks the question, “Is she crazy?!”, but we already know the answer.

Even when the tempo drops, there’s a wickedness running through TsuShiMaMiRe. “Psychedelic Soliloquy” is an acid trip that starts off groovy, before the pedal is pushed like Hunter S. Thompson’s on his way to Vegas. “Yori Modo Shichuu” is as close as you’ll get to a love song here, even if it’s about a yummy-sounding stew. “MEIKYOKU” feels at home with the 90s grunge rock scene, with lyrics praising the things we can’t see in front of us. It’s a perfect blend of both the styles of Pixies and Breeders, as if the two bands formed to make a proper supergroup.

The album ends with the title track, with Mari screaming as loud as she did back in Pregnant Fantasy. It’s the group getting wet and wild, something concertgoers can often expect TsuShiMaMiRe to be by show’s end. By the time the album concludes, Mizumono has delivered one massive tidal wave after another of sound, insanity, and energy. Japan may have given us The Blue Hearts and Stance Punks, but the punk rock throne certainly belongs to TsuShiMaMiRe. Mizumono is proof of that, a record that puts everything the trio learned in 25 years in a blender, creating a chaotic concoction that goes down smoothly while kicking you square in the face!

FINAL GRADE:

Check out KBD’s interview with TsuShiMaMiRe here!

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