Asobi
Seksu
Citrus
*****
Taking
the next step from their excellent debut, Citrus sees New Yorkers
Asobi Seksu step out of the shadow of the My Bloody Valentine
comparisons. True the cascades of guitar sound still reverberate
throughout each and every track, but this is now married to
a perfectly honed understanding of pop music that sees them
break new ground.
For those music fans, like myself, who have a conflicted love
of both mind-blowing experimentalism and a foot-tapingly catchy
tune, Citrus is an absolute god-send.
This is not necessarily classic indiepop, but it is an amalgamation
of all of the genres ‘classic’ moments and formulas,
which is no bad thing.
As the opening surges of ‘Everything is on’ gives
way to the guitar-picking on ‘Strawberries’ you
know this is a special album. ‘Thursday’ is a cloudy
dreamscape of a pop tune and ‘Strings’ is bastardised
surf-rock with its disco-bass, and shimmering bending guitar
offset by a wonderful Jap-pop vocal. ‘Red Sea’ is
an ambient slice of post-rock - each and every track is a wonder.
The fact that the songs are sung in both English and Japanese
gives them an intriguing air of the familiar and the unexpected.
As an exquisite slice of indiepop Citrus is not a sour-lemon
but the most, succulent, delicious aural fruit you could wish
for.
by Chris Marks
