Customer Reviews

Fever Fever

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I think I've figured out why Puffy has sold so many records. It's not just the trendy kogals buying their CDs, it's also all the aging salarymen who can flash back to their youth listening to the Beatles, but with the bonus that this time, they're two cute homegrown girls instead of British lads with goofy hair.

Producer Okuda Tamio, who probably wasn't even born when the Fab Four first touched down at Haneda Airport, has this time gone whole-hog with his retro bag, and damned if he doesn't make you grin and enjoy every minute of it. Behind the disco-inspired cover art, you'll find the Stones, the Carpenters, a mildly oriental-sounding rumba, a country-and-western tune sung in English, and practically every member and era of the Beatles represented among the fifteen tracks. The bass lines on "nannari to naru deshou" are straight out of "Something", while "taiyo" manages to borrow the theme, the bright feeling, and the lyrical cleverness of every song about the sun written by the Beatles. While "Cake Is Love" from the previous "Jet-CD" was a sort of lyrical translation of George Harrison's "Savoy Truffle", "koi no line ai no shape" takes on the musical half this time. "kirei na namida ga tarinai yo" is a dead ringer for Paul Simon's "Hazy Shade of Winter", with some very nice sixties-style harmonies. "Tararan", written by Andy Sturmer (lyrics by Okuda), is the only track that's obviously not retro, taking "bouncy" to a new level. It makes you want to skip off into the sunset holding hands with your sweetheart.

Three of the tracks are written and performed entirely by Ami and Yumi, but don't get your hopes up -- they're mere novelties that clock in at under a minute. Don't quit your day jobs yet, girls. On the other hand, their singing is getting better, with each gaining a distinctive voice that wasn't heard in their earlier releases.

The last track "dare ga sore wo" is the perfectly circa-1968 album closer, opening with an acoustic guitar and building to a fadeout singalong chorus where every line is a reference to another Puffy song title.

The CD, perhaps in an effort to sound like a psychedelic 60's concept album, features some random-conversation segues between tracks, which can be amusing, but really doesn't add anything of value. Yes, we know they're cute and ditzy.

Thirty years from now, some middle-aged Japanese housewife is going to come across a dusty old CD of "Abbey Road", left by her deceased father, listen to it for the first time and say "Wow, these Beatles guys are great! But ... it sounds just like Puffy!"

I may not speak a lick of Japanese, much less understand it hasn't stopped me from enjoying this extremely charming power pop cd. An acquaintence of mine has been raving about this duo and I just felt compelled to get this cd. Although I had to shell out a few more bucks than I usually do for a cd and wait for pigs to fly to receive the cd, I must say that "Fever Fever" is terrific. I say that the songs on this cd ranges from gargage punk to surf music combined with pop melodies. Despite the language barrier, I find myself humming along to the songs particularly to track #14 and to "Always Dreamin' About You". Thoroughly fun music that music today could use to cure the glut of contrived, angst-ridden rap-metal that fills the airwaves today. Ami and Yumi definitely know how to cure my bad mood any day with their cheerful blend of pop, punk and rock.

If you're breathing, you'll love Puffy. J-Rock at it's best and so compelling it transcends any language barrier. They build from such a mix of musical styles that rockers and aged Tom Jones fans seem to fall in love with them at the same rate. A young listeners guide to Puffy in the order I'd recommend the CDs: FEVER FEVER, a great place to start, up beat, fun and full of great music. AMIYUMI, complex pop music with great fast and slow songs, includes the hit "True Asia." SPIKE, faster and heavier songs than other Puffy CDs, good but a notch below Fever Fever. JET, similar to AMIYUMI but not quite as good.

A Complete track listing, including the Japanese titles!
1. Stray Cats Fever
2. Yume No Tameni
3. Nichiyoubi No Museme
4. Nannariarutonarudeshow
5. Kireina Namida Ga Tarinaiyo
6. Taiyou
7. Robot Prototype Version 0.2
8. Puffy De Rumba
9. Koi Ai Line no Shape
10. Always Dreamin' About You (Completely in English)
11. Natsuyasumi Prototype
12. Hatarakuyo
13. Puffy De Bossa
14. Talalan
15. Dare Ga Sore Wo

There you have it! Now you can find the title of the song while listening to it! (Ex. The first line of Track 5 is "Kierina Namida Ga Tarinaiyo...")

Listening to this album, somehow it really doesn't matter if I am listening to Japanese or English songs. Unique voice of this duo (very cute btw), most of the time in unison, but powerful. Track #14 by Andy Sturmer is my favorite out of all. Although it'd help to know what they are singing about, I am sure you will be playing this album over and over again like i still do.

The finest from Japan!

Fever Fever is one of my favorite Puffy albums because it has a great mix of songs and no clunkers thrown in. Not speakign any appreciable Japanese matters not, I enjoy the music (it is very good for background music when I am working). Puffy and all those who help them behind the scenes churn out good albums, and this is one of their best, particularly track 1, Stray Cat's Fever.

"Fever Fever" is probably my favorite Puffy CD. It shows off the girl's talent in a range of styles, including hawaiian-influenced tunes, straight pop music, rockabilly and a whole lot else thrown in. Bongos, acoustic guitars, electronic music, Puffy is far from average j-pop.

The first number, "Stray Cat Fever," is pure synth-pop fun Ami and Yumi mixing the vocals perfectly. The next song, "yume no tame ni" ("For the Sake of Dreams") is an acoustical pop tune, while after that we have "nichiyobi no musume" ("Sunday's Daughter") comes off like a groovy, lazy 60's song. There is even an English song, "Always Dreamin' About You," thrown in for good measure.

"Fever Fever" is an excellent CD from a talented pair of musicians. You can't go wrong with Puffy, and this is one of their best.

This one takes a few listens to really catch on (just like most of their albums). And just like most of their albums you will have your favorite songs and songs that you'll continuously skip. You've heard these songs before, but now they are being played by Puffy. That is the only difference. I personally loved their album "Nice" the most because of the production value. Most of their others have been pretty raw like this one. But if you love Puffy and you can't get enough... this should take care of you for a while.

puff is the bomb and you can hate him as much as you want but he still runs music you can't mention music without mentioning his name.