For those fans of the rock scene, you all know that there’s rock AND rock. Sometimes we have good bands that really deliver amazing performances live just like on their albums and there are those bands that fail to impress in a live setting. There are also those types of bands that impress because you weren’t expecting them to be that good. This is one of those bands that have shocked me in a good way.
OLDCODEX, a Japanese Punk-rock/alternrock band, fronted by Japanese seiyuu Tatsuhisa Suzuki, has impressed me more than anything. Personally, I’m not a big fan of Punk-rock but for these guys, I make an exception.
The band consists in Ta_2 (Tatsuhisa Suzuki) and the painter YORKE (that also writes some of the lyrics and worked on all the bands’ album covers). The duo turns into a five piece band live but the official members are the ones stated before.
So for the album, more precisely, for the mini-album that I’ve reviewed, I’ll add a few facts about it: since the band’s formation in 2009, this is the 6th single released, the song “The misfit go” was featured alongside “美しい背骨” as both endings in the 2013 anime “Arata Kangatari” in which Tatsuhisa also voiced a character.
Genre: Punk-rock/alternrock Year: 2013 Label: Lantis Album: The Misfit Go
Now off with the review:
1 – The Misfit Go
A strong start of the mini-album. Great guitar intro leading to soft yet amazing vocals by Ta_2. The song slowly builds up with the drums marking the pace to deliver a very strong chorus with an almost mesmerizing bassline and the rough vocals matching the guitar melody making the perfect setting/harmony in this song, turning this song into one of the best I’ve heard from the band. 4/5
2 – 美しい背骨
Now here it is my immediate favorite on this album. Guitars lead us at the beginning of the song until Ta_2’s voice takes the lead to one of the best build-ups in a punk-rock song I’ve heard. Not too aggressive, not a ballad per se but an amazingly beautiful song. The bass guides us throughout the verses, with the drums building up to deliver the amazing chorus perfectly performed. Beautiful lyrics and melody not to forget the outro that really builds the song even more to slowly introduce us to the last chorus of the song. This right here is a great song. 5/5
3 – Meteor Train
Strong, fast-paced song. The drums and the guitar go crazy on this one making this song that one that clearly shows their usual genre: Punk-rock. I’d say that the thing on this song that puts me a little bit off is the background vocals in some parts. Besides that the song doesn’t seem out of place on the album. The outro is pretty awesome: the guitar riff leads us to a relatively slow part of the song but that doesn’t last long since the drums dictate once again the quick pace of the song. Not my favorite but with its merit- 3.5/5
Overall: A good mini-album, stronger than the previous mini-albums (of course we’re only making a comparison between them because the albums are a completely different story). Great band, good songs and interesting lyrics. This is a mini-album that I totally recommend buying because it won’t disappoint you.
Final rating: 4/5
The album is available in both Normal and Deluxe versions:
