Customer Reviews

Splurge

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

 

 

I'll start by stating the obvious: this is a great rock album. You expected something different?

Now for the details.

Immediate superstars in Japan from their 1996 debut megahit "True Asia", Puffy made sort of an awkward jump across the Pacific in 2001. Initially taking on an indie band persona with their "Rolling Debut Revue" tour and their college-rock heavy albums Spike and An Illustrated History, they later morphed into the kid-friendly cartoon characters of "Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi" in the hopes of increasing their audience. It's a move that looks more and more like a mistake in hindsight. Maybe a result of their split attention between Japan and the US, "Puffy-mania" in their home country has dwindled with time. With Splurge, they seek to reinvent themselves once again, re-establishing their indie street cred in the States while perhaps forging a new bond with their homegrown fans in Japan.

For the truly uninitiated, Puffy (as they are still known in Japan) are Yumi Yoshimura and Ami Onuki. In 1995, they were two regular twentysomething girls from different parts of Japan answering the same newspaper ad looking for the next Japanese superstar. Tamio Okuda, Japanese rock star and all-around musical genius, would serve as their songwriter and mentor for their initial chart forays before slipping back into his own solo career. It was these early albums and corresponding tours that captured so much of the public's attention in Japan - the unique combination of Okuda's Japanese rock and roll compositions combined with the girls' charisma, rawness and unique fashion sense drew a broad audience that gave the entire music industry a serious kick in the pants. It's not too far out of bounds to compare their effect on Japanese pop music to that of Nirvana or the Sex Pistols in the west. They were like nothing anyone had ever seen or heard before.

Now in their thirties, Ami and Yumi have slowly taken more control over their own musical destinies while hedging against the almost inevitable calming of Japanese Puffy-mania. Splurge is a culmination of their ten years making music, an anniversary album combining both Japanese and American compositions from a variety of well-known songwriters and musicians (including Jon Spencer, Dexter Holland, Andy Sturmer, Butch Walker and the return of Tamio Okuda). The US release features more English lyrics than they've ever sung before, some of which were written by Puffy themselves. Stylistically, Splurge is as varied as the names involved would suggest - though Puffy's vocals and harmonies always manage to tie everything together.

Beginning with Butch Walker's "Call Me What You Like (if you like rock and roll)", the album starts off with a rebellious tribute to rock music from the 1970's through today - sampling Def Leppard and the Offspring, and with a riff that pays homage to The Knack's "My Sharona". When the girls sing "we ain't no harajuku girls" in an obvious dig at Gwen Stefani, they're making a statement on both their music and their status as Japanese icons - or at least western stereotypes of the styles they helped create.

Progressing through indie rock, neo-punk, folk-rock and retro 50's and 60's beach rock, about the only genre absent from their usual repertoire is disco. Yes, disco. While ostensibly a rock act, Puffy has always been about fun as much as anything, and some of their most famous and popular songs could have easily sprung from the drum machine of K.C. and the Sunshine Band. "Electric Beach Fever", "Tokyo Nights", and even their original hit "True Asia" were obvious nods to the disco era. Perhaps they've dropped this bit in an effort to court the more serious western crowd, but Splurge is wall-to-wall guitars in one form or another. Don't misunderstand - Puffy's trademark up-tempo party tracks still take a bow in "Nice Buddy", "Beginnings" and "Tokyo I'm On My Way", but there's nary a drum machine to be heard, and synthesized strings are reserved for the 1950's-inspired slow-dance "Missing You Baby".

Highlights are almost too many to mention, but new fans in America will probably immediately take to the aforementioned "Call Me What You Like" as well as the second Butch Walker composition, the powerful cover of Marvelous 3's wail against corporate rock "Radio Tokyo". Both Ami and Yumi have solo songs on this album (something they haven't done in a while), Yumi's "Cameland" being a slow, traditional-sounding Japanese folk song and Ami's "Security Blanket" a punky but heartfelt dedication to her three-year-old daughter (with surprisingly poetic English lyrics written by her). Both are among the best songs this year, let alone on this album, and both show a depth to Puffy that is both new and a little surprising. These aren't college kids anymore - this is a 33-year old new mom and a 31-year old divorcee singing about real life (and death).

Really, though, with the weak-point exceptions of Dexter Holland's "Tokyo I'm On My Way" and Jon Spencer's "Go Baby Power Now" (both of which sound like bad imitations of their composers' real bands as interpreted by the PowerPuff Girls on speed), this album just doesn't quit. It's as immediately fun, catchy and listenable as any of their past albums, but with more nuance and experience behind the singing and the songwriting. While they may have been musical novices when Puffy was formed, at this stage of their careers, these girls know exactly what they're doing. And if Japan no longer cares, that's their loss. Puffy is everything we've forgotten pop music could be in this country, and *if only* they could break through here as they did in Japan years before. Our music industry could use a good swift kick in the pants.

For those who are already fans of Puffy AmiYumi Splurge will fast become one of your favorites. To anyone new to Japanese pop music this CD is an excellent gateway to a whole new world of head bobbing enjoyment.

As the title was meant to imply Puffy AmiYumi have splurged to assemble an all-star cast of song writers and musicians to celebrate their ten year anniversary as a group. Tamio Okuda, the group's original producer and songwriter, returns for the catchy pop song "Mole-Like." Andy Sturmer the "godfather" of Puffy also makes an appearance for "Missing You Baby" and "Beginnings" (featured in the Pokemon movie "Lucario and the Mystery of Mew.")

Butch Walker brings his talents to the hard rocking songs "Call Me What You Like" and "Radio Tokyo." Dexter Holland adds his part in the campy pop song "Tokyo I'm On My Way." Jon Spencer has Ami and Yumi break out their best "cute voices" for the snappy "Go Baby Power Now."

Also joining the group are the talents of Kazuyoshi Saito for Yumi's haunting solo "Cameland" and Ken Yokoyama for Ami's "Security Blanket," an upward driving rock ballad about her young daughter.

While the English and Japanese songs on Splurge were written and recorded by many different people, Ami and Yumi somehow manage to charm them all with that magical Japanese pixie dust they bring to their music.

Another solid pop music mini-masterpiece! These girls cannot make a bad album. Sure, they have recorded some twinky tunes, but when they nail it, they really nail it. Every Puffy album has at least 4 classic pop tunes on them, and this one is no exception. The monster on this album is "Call Me What You Like". The song starts off with the Boomtown Rats "I Don't Like Mondays" piano roll with Def Leppard's "Rock Of Ages" count-off and then goes into a Knack-y beat with a "We Got The Beat" guitar line. 25 years ago this song would have been on your radio day and night. That's the true charm of Puffy. They borrow (or, as in CMWYL,lift) pop elements from the 50's on up and turn them into something fresh. Other highlights on Splurge are "Nice Buddy", "Etude", "The Story", and "Mole-like". While I don't think this album is as good, or rocks as hard, as "Nice", it is still on a par with "Spike" and "Jet". 10 years on, and they haven't slipped. NOTE: For anyone interested, the Japanese version of the album has Japanese versions of "Call It What You Like" and "Go Baby Power Now", neither of which sounded as good to my American ears as the English versions. There is also a cover of Green Day's "Basket Case", which sounds exactly like what you would expect: Green Day meets Puffy! Each of these songs would have been a nicer addition to the US release than either of the remixes, though.

For those who are just getting into J-pop or J-rock, this album is great. It features a mix of Japanese and English lyrics, with Puffy's trademark music experimentation. If you, like me, like this album, check out their "Fever Fever" one, too.

I have another Puffy Cd, the Illustrated History Compilation which shows they're a pop band (not rock, though they can do that style) capable of many subgenres and mass appeal. Their tone and content ends up being very kid friendly while still being a decent representation of a style. Here, they move from power pop castoff Andy Sturmer to Butch Walker as producer on a few tracks. What you get is exactly what you'd imagine if you're a fan of Avril Lavigne and wondered what her music would sound like if it were in Japanese. This American version has a number of bonus tracks that I could've done without as they fit together badly with the tracks from the original album. Puffy are good here, but what keeps them from being great is how all their material is splattered with polish, gloss, and seemingly not a stray note, or vocal to be heard. Not bad, as in the title, but not essential either. It doesn't feel like it's real and authentic, it just feels studied. Bands from around the world do this as well but it's particularly pronounced when from Japan. I remember thinking it might just be the recording when listened to them, but I conclude it's not after I saw them live. Exact same thing live as on the Cd. They even sang the most cliche pop-punk song ever, Green Day's "basketcase" and once again, it was very close to the original with the only difference being that it was two female voices singing it. Once again, this doesn't make them bad, it just makes them predictable and lacking in a particular rock n roll trait, rawness. Everything about them is calculated and if you can dig it (I can, sometimes) this CD's for you. If it isn't, you can find many other examples of it from Guitar Wolf to the Sex Pistols, to the White Stripes, to the Lazy Cowgirls...etc. For the epitome of polished pop look no further.

Released to mark their 10 years together Puffy Amiyumi's Splurge returns to Puffy's more classic rock based roots. Sung in Japanese and English, Splurge shows how the Puffy Amiyumi team have harnessed pure pop that transcends language barriers.

The opening song Butch Walker's Call Me What You Like (If You Like Rock-N-Roll), is sung in English and starts out with a lilting piano flourish before a thumping drum beat kicks in followed by a blugeoning riff that recalls the Knack's My Sharona.

Nice Buddy is superior power pop/punk with cutesy do-do-do backing vocals from the dynamic duo followed by the bouncy ska pop of Tokyo I'm on My Way. Next up is Andy Sturmer's anthemic hands in the air, ELO and Mott the Hoople inspired Radio Tokyo.

A fierce overdriven guitar riff leading into some storming drums launches Mogura-like into hyperspace. With barely time to draw breath the Puffy girls head into warped Rockabilly territory with Go Baby Power Now. To take things down a little the gorgeous Sunday in the Park conjures up images of summer.

Next up is the Beatley Etude followed by the magnificent Sixties Girl Group inspired Missing You Baby. The Story is pure powerpop with soaring vocals and harmonies. Mole keeps the pressure going until the captivating bittersweet ballad Cameland calms things down. The punky Security Blanket starts quietly and then bursts out of your speakers and blows any cobwebs that may have been lurking well and truly out of the window until Beginning ironically closes the official proceedings.

The remaining tracks have been added to this release and are remixes of two previous singles. Polysics' remix of Puffy's Teen Titans is particularly clever and transforms the already frenetic track into an electro-007 masterpiece.

I don't speak a word of Japanese, but that doesn't prevent me from loving this rock-solid album. There may be more cooler bands from Japan, like The Sooners, The Blue Hearts and musical maestro Tamio Okuda, but none perform with as much pananche as the Puffy Girls.

very awesome i got for this for my daughter and she really enjoyed this cd and listens to it everyday.she recommends that if you don't have this cd and are wanting it you should just go out and buy it it's worth it.

I stumbled onto this duo by accident and was completely blown away! Their songs are fun, catchy, and they just bring a smile to my face. "Splurge" was worth every penny.

This album is also great for kids in middle school. It has positive approiate lyrics and it is great and your middle school kid would enjoy it.

This CD is really awesome! These girls can really rock!