Review Summary: The indie/electronic act create a near-superb debut, full of electropop and rock in each bite.
In the mid 2000's, the Japanese pop scene desperately needed an interesting, new band to come around. As electronica was (and still is) very popular in the Japanese music world, Sakanaction were the perfect band to take over. Formed in 2005, the band has since experimented with various genres, including alternative rock, indie, various electronica styles, new wave, power pop and bareboned pop (just to name a few). But when Sakanaction released their debut album, "Go to the Future", in 2007, it was a breath of fresh air, not only for the Japanese music fiends, but for music lovers worldwide.
The album opens up with the electro-swinger, "Mikazuki Sunset". The bass and vocals are the main winners, as Ami Kusakari's slick bass lines and Ichiro Yamaguchi's laid back vocals make the track a superb opener. The next track, "Inner World", has a spectacular electronic punch, but Ichiro's repetitive lyrics bring the track's potential down dramatically. "Amefura" is a pretty damn interesting track, that comes packed with electro-power pop goodness. The drum fills by Keiichi Ejima are a standout point, as it takes the hyperactive sound of the track, and pushes it even further. The self-titled track shows the band mixing things up with alternative rock, and is a pretty clever switch up on the band's part. "Fukurou" pushes the alternative sound that was obvious in the previous track to previously unseen grounds, and even adding in an indie influence. A nice track, and is also a good one to show off the band's potential, without being fronted by electropop kicks. "Kaika" is one of the band's more boring points, and has an interesting sound, but gets rather tiring as the album's magic starts to ware on the listener. Luckily, "Shiranami Top Water" saves the album from going down a downward spiral to boredom, with an almost ambient sound in the beginning, before evolving into a laid back anthem for all mellow electro fans to enjoy. The album then closes with "Yoru no Higashigawa", which takes the ambient-like sound of "Shiranami Top Water", and speeds it up a little with a lot more feel and atmosphere. One almost feels like they are floating while listening to the track. Needless to say, a fantastic closing track.
Overall, "Go to the Future" shows Sakanaction at a rather raw state, as they switch back and forth from electro-synthpop, to a more alternative/indie sound. The only thing that's making their debut an absolute masterpiece (let alone "superb") is the fact that towards the middle of the album, the charm starts to fade rather quickly. But the majority of the tracks are rather good, while only a handful are rather plain and boring. All-in-all, if you're an open-minded music fan, or if you are fond of pop/electronica in general, I'd suggest you take this one for a spin. Although it's not perfect, the album is only 8 tracks, so it can't do much harm. A rather spontaneous, yet very mature, debut from the electronic-indie superstars.
