Boom Boom Satellites make it look "EASY"

EASY ACTION

"EASY ACTION"
gr8! records/Sony
Released July 25, 2007

It’s interesting to think about how innocuously you can first encounter an artist or group who ends up being one of your favorite musical acts.  For example, I first heard Ayumi Hamasaki in the 1999 video game Thousand Arms, singing “Depend on you” – I had no idea who she was, and I don’t think I was overly impressed with the song, but her name stuck with me, and when I took a chance on her LOVEppears album later on I was instantly hooked.  Seven years later I now own a slightly ridiculous number of Ayu discs.

I discovered Boom Boom Satellites several years ago from their remix contribution to a Garbage single.  As in Ayu’s case, I thought the remix (of the song “Push It,” which I loved at the time) was alright but nothing overly special.  It’d take me until mid-2006 to discover the band again, when I came across their album Full of Elevating Pleasures at my local Newbury Comics (thank you, Tofu Records, for bringing it stateside – now market your artists better, dammit).  I picked up the album completely on impulse, knowing nothing about what the music would be like.  Fast forward a year, and I’m the proud owner of most of their albums, a few singles, and a thanks that the band is not more prolific - because I’m buying whatever they release from this point forward, and I’m not rich.

BBS is a duo made up of vocalist/guitarist Michiyuki Kawashima and bassist/programmer Masayuki Nakano, with drummer Naoki Hirai often on board as a supporting member.  Smaller releases aside, they’ve released five major albums in the past ten years, and have gone through quite a radical change in their style since their inception.  Starting in 1998 with Out Loud, BBS’ initial sound was a strange mixture of freeform jazz, driving beats, and the occasional (and incongruent) punk-rock song featuring Kawashima on guitar and screaming vocals.  Those last two elements would be more and more heavily featured as the years went by, particularly after the band contributed several songs to the animated film Appleseed in 2004.  Their most recent album, 2006’s On, is a showcase for just how hard this band can rock: it’s filled with huge drums, 4/4 beats, loud guitar, and Kawashima’s always-insistent vocal delivery, but still includes a few twists to keep things interesting, such as the gospel-style backing vocalist (this was also done on Full of Elevating Pleasures, and believe it or not, it works very well).  Interesting to note is that all of the band's lyrics are in English; Kawashima has a heavy accent but is generally pretty understandable.

"EASY ACTION" PV

BBS' newest single, “EASY ACTION,” dropped in July, and it's another animation tie-in, this time for the new film Vexille.  Stylistically it’s very close to the On sound, and actually seems a little simpler than anything on that album.  For the verses, the drums and guitar are locked in a single pattern, providing a hard but basic background texture for Kawashima’s sexy yowl, before the chorus brings in a simple descending melody to act as counterpoint.  Things don’t get much more complex until the end of the song, when the drums and synths improvise a little bit; this lasts only a short while before a final cymbal crash, at which point the song quietly implodes, with some synth-chittering as things fade out.  The lyrics are focused and emotive to match the simplicity of the music, with the chorus repeating the lines “All that I want is easy action / such an easy thing to lose, yeah!”  Verses share similar sentiment, such as “I ain’t got a clue, tell me what to do / I ain’t got a blues that I wanna play / it ain’t party time ‘til you come around / well, easy comes, easy goes again.”  Interpret the lyrics as you wish, but ultimately this song is pretty damn straightforward.

The two remixes included on the single are both propelled by driving beats and have much of the same straight-shooter ethic of the original, but each remix takes “EASY ACTION” in some intriguing directions.  Coburn’s “Sleazy Action” remix has both a clever and extremely apt title; stripping everything except for a small portion of vocals, this remix slows the tempo just enough to add an insistent house beat, together with some grimy synth textures and what sounds like a car engine in the background (though I guess it could just be another effect).  London Elektricity opts instead to speed things up, pinning a drum ‘n bass rhythm section underneath the main guitar riff, and later also adding an original melodic guitar part that creates wonderful contrast.  This mix also keeps more of the original vocals, although the track ends up feeling short since they don’t enter until about halfway through.  I enjoy both remixes greatly, and they’re worth shelling out for the single even though no b-sides are included.

EASY ACTION (Coburn's Sleazy Action Remix)

I do, however, question the worth of what’s coming next.  Just a little bit.  Don’t get me wrong: I love the band, I’ve been digging their new sound, and I have a huge crush on Michiyuki Kawashima.  (Wait, did I just think that last part or did I actually type it out?  Hmm.  I guess we’ll see when this gets posted.)  But On has been wearing thin after a year of owning it, and since this single is only a small departure (if it’s even a departure at all) from that sound, I’m left wondering about their upcoming album – the official site claims it’ll arrive sometime this year.  I expect to either be disappointed or completely blown away, and I’m obviously hoping for the latter.

That said, for a new fan there’s a lot to love about Boom Boom Satellites, and I encourage you to dive in and explore their discography.  I hope this review gives a little more exposure to a band I don’t think gets enough overseas love… and if it manages to make a rabid fan out of you, well, all I can say to that is “rock on!”