Saturday Singles: Japanese Fighting Fish – “U Ain’t Gonna Win This”

Vandal Records
2015

Born in Leeds, but now based in London, Japanese Fighting Fish is a four-piece band that self-dubs it's sound & style as "Odd & Theatrical Space Funk Rock". Also described as "an eclectic semi-genius, semi-ludicrous mix of metal, dance, pop, Latin/Cuban beats and more stuff that probably shouldn’t ever go together." (which is perhaps a more fitting starting point when and/or if you are going to be talking to your friends and family about this eclectic English alternative rock/metal band!), Japanese Fighting Fish (or the Fish!) is as quirky as they come and that same courtesy is extended to the band's latest single here. For band members Karlost (guitar/vocals), Gareth (guitar), Al (drums), and Matt (bass) the song "U Ain’t Gonna Win This" marks the first time that the Fish have written a track collectively. Maybe that is why this single goes off in so many directions at the same time? Whatever the case might be when it comes to this single there's two things to keep in mind. The first thing is this particular song comes from the group's forthcoming album of the same name. That album is due out on 13th November and (fingers crossed here) I'm hoping to have a chance to cover it. It's got to be all kinds of crazy given this song's weird punk/funk space rock vibe*! The second thing is this song's official video (posted below) is as odd and unsettling as the single itself! And you know what? I really appreciate that small detail! If you like your rock and metal to be fun, quirky, weird, strange or whatever(!), then be sure to check this video out for yourself! I've also provided all of the appropriate links for Japanese Fighting Fish. Enjoy the show!

Links:

  

http://www.japanesefightingfish.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/Japanesefightingfishuk

https://twitter.com/jffuk

https://soundcloud.com/japanese-fighting-fish

* The promo material that came with this hard rocking single mentioned how much appreciation "U Ain’t Gonna Win This" owed to the likes of Q.O.T.S.A. and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Who am I to disagree? All I ask is that I be allowed to toss some Red Hot Chili Peppers into that delicious dish. Sure, my Flaming Lips might need cooled down after that, but that's where my friend Frank Zappa comes in! He's always on hand with a tall cool glass of milk and a piece of Cake or two Yum! It's all good!! Right? Sure, things can and do happen. Especially when you stop and consider how we all live and play in a dangerous Soundgarden !!! Even so I absolutely swear that this time around I will not lose myself in a System of a Down. Not again! And as far as my spiritual life is concerned? It's still there. Until Death** as they say. At the end of the day you're never going to hear me scream to the heavens how I've got  Faith No More! So my friends and fellow music lovers just keep on rocking and rolling and as always keep it loud and proud! And whatever you do please try to do something awful like list a band's influences (whether obvious or not) in the form of a short nonsensical story! You'd have to have Bad Brains to think that's clever!!

** The punk rock band...

The Pop Group-Citizen Zombie

Freaks R Us
2015


For the uniformed, The Pop Group is a British post-punk band that was formed back in 1977 in Bristol, England. Mere teenagers at the time of their formation, The Pop Group made their vinyl debut in March of 1979 with the release of the cult single "She Is Beyond Good and Evil". Both the single (a punk-funk freakout of a cut if ever there was one!) and the band's praise-worthy first full-length album, "Y", were released on Radar Records with "Y" appearing one month after the band had first issued "She Is Beyond Good and Evil". The following year another album appeared and there was a split single with the Slits released. The band also put out the misc. compilation "We Are Time", but for all intensive purposes The Pop Group was done by 1980. In 2010 original members of The Pop Group got back together with the full-length "Citizen Zombie" serving as the band's first post-reunion LP. Released in late February of this year, with recording sessions having taken place over the course of two years at various locations before it was finally finished in late summer 2014 at Epworth's studio in Crouch End, London, "Citizen Zombie" is the first new studio album for this British band in 35 years! It follows 1980's "For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder?" and features original band members Mark Stewart (lyrics, vocals), Gareth Sager (guitar), Dan Catsis (bass) and Bruce Smith (drums). Production duties fell on multi-Grammy and Academy Award winner Paul Epworth (U2, Lorde, FKA Twigs, Adele, Cee Lo Green, Florence & The Machine, etc.), but sound-wise and theme-wise this is the same The Pop Group as before only older and perhaps a little wiser. That means their still socially-conscious and (by necessity) political in their approach and that when it comes to music of The Pop Group you should expect the unexpected. The group's music is anything but typical and while that can often times be a real blessing it can also be a curse. The Pop Group's new album was a hit-miss for me at first spin, but each new listen offers something different. Album number three for The Pop Group opens with the nearly four minutes long title track. While the industrial noise that is "Citizen Zombie" is a tragically harsh way to start things off thankfully the album gradually gets better with each new number just as it get's better with each new spin. "Mad Truth" is more like The Pop Group of old and from that moment forward these post-punk rockers offer plenty of good will to fans and newcomers alike. It's not a perfect studio piece by any stretch of the imagination, but for what it is and what it represents it's as pleasurable a conversation as one can hope to have with The Pop Group.