Asobi Seksu – Me & Mary (One Little Indian)
The first single from Asobi Seksu‘s third LP will do little to shake the wrong tendencies among the press to continually daub them with a shoegazer-revival brush, but to those with more than a minute to spare Me & Mary will shine as an example of very pure popular music. Because of the immense albatross around their necks, it seems unlikely that many will consider the band anything more than what is written about them, but there’s much to explore in this one song alone that might sway some.
The production is crisper and cleaner than anything from their previous Citrus LP, James Hanna’s guitar is even slushier and more overdriven, and Yuki Chikudate’s vocals remain just as sweet as they ever were. In truth, the musical aspects of Me & Mary are more aligned with twee conventions than shoegaze, but the plums of the music world can’t seem to see it. It moves faster, melody is the ultimate core, and the structure of it wouldn’t look out of place on Meet The Beatles. Though shoegaze gets heavy, it doesn’t get as ferocious as Hanna’s blistering sonic energy or as tuneful as the wistful verses. It’s consummate pop writing, but with the visceral nature of something much more primal.
Me & Mary is released on November 17th. Listen to the band at their MySpace.
