Looking through a psychedelic kaleidoscope

March 11th, 2009

motfd

Right then, let’s name a few Japanese all-girl groups/bands shall we?

Perfume, nice and feminine, I like.

SCANDAL, as the name suggests, feminine.

Chatmonchy, er….

Buono! …quite obscure to say the least.

MASS OF FERMENTING DREGS.

Er…no.

From first impressions it sounds more like a song or album name for some metal band.

But what? This vile and testosterone name for a band doesn’t quite encapsulate the truth of this band.

MASS OF FERMENTING DREGS is an indie/post-rock girl duo.

These girls are obviously mad. And my guesses are that they probably pulled out a dictionary and tried to find words which put together sound utterly vile and repulsive. As vile and repulsive as their name suggests; what they play is as far away as from the first image you would get from seeing their name which to me was, well…metal.

But these girls have something, something that no post-rock/indie band (I have trouble saying the word band here as they’re not really a band, it’s just two chicks and a random drummer that they hire) has that I’ve come past before. To understand review music, one must dissect music into layers. Sounds simple enough, but for MOFD, you just can’t. To put simply, it’s a mass of music, which has so many layers which makes it extremely hard to dissect and review. That’s why I’m here trying to find words to describe this mash of sound which has been arranged ingeniously or rather, quite spastically but which sounds so fresh and new.

 

Mass of Fermenting Dregs style is much like chucking your radio into a tumble drier while travelling through a black hole. The extremes of how much this band can warp their music to feel like you’re drifting through space while encountering the weird and wonderful is never-ending… much like space itself. The music is literally drenched with riffs, chords and drum fills to keep the insane buzz going at the speed the girls allow their listeners to go. It’s hard to judge how complex the songs are while you are hearing something that only LSD could have given birth to, but I think the aim of MoTD is for the listener to be taken on a trip that they’ve never thought or even dreamt of before.

The guitars and bass embraces each other to produce the heavy and dark sound which for me, depicts who they are sound-wise but the drums provides the coal in which the train (the guitar and bass) fuels on, hence, the drums allow how fast the train is allowed to go so in saying that the drums control the speed of the song. But to add to how epic it already is, the last ingredient to their sound is bassist Miyamoto Natusko whose reverb-saturated vocals are haunting and keeps the listener in a trance.

128_1_0707_191856The current image of all girl bands is like a sheet of opaque glass. The understanding of all girl rock bands come back at public is that they are cute and poppy rock or to extremes, all image and no substance. While the public is embracing pop girl rock their visions cannot go far enough to go beyond the glass to see that maybe, just maybe some of these girls aren’t all lollipops and rainbows.

MoTD provides their listeners with a kaleidoscope which looks past the opacity of the glass but in a warped and twisted way, as how a kaleidoscope is. Since its indie, first instances is that as my friend would say for indie bands that “it’s produced from their parents garage”, which simply showcases the lack in production value most indie bands have but for MoTD, Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Weezer, MGMT) produces their authentic sound.

Their self-titled debut album is by far their best. The aggressiveness and heaviness which the album brings is intense. The songs are full of depth and it’s the best description of the band. They didn’t hold back when the made this album because when you turn it on, you’re already in a trance because of how psychedelic it is but its hard-edge keeps you on your feet. From the rollercoaster-like “エンドロール” which is full of ups and downs to the upbeat and slightly poppy “skabetty”, this album is the depicting image of the band. I wouldn’t say the same about their sophomore album. It contains more vocals than it really should as the vocals for MoTD should only enhance the ride that the band puts you on. The instrumentals are definitely watered down and tame when compared to their debut album. The heaviness of the guitar has been lifted off to give a more sensual and smooth ride compared to their intense, rough, psychedelic and drug induced rollercoaster ride but it does have glimpses of its former self which is encouraging but the tameness of the album dwarfs it completely.

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Posted in Artist Review | Comments (Comments)

  • I was thinking about checking them out when I read about them on ZB's A-Z of J-Music. I actually like what I'm hearing. It sucks to hear that their latest release isn't as good, though. Oh well. :D
  • Seriously, they are something out of this world, and yeah, sadly their latest isn't as brilliant as their first.
  • MOFD's music♪♪ is very trance like indeed~! It sort of makes you feel "intoxicated" although I only know the feeling of merlot. XD Their music sounds very intricate and moving like a wall of sound with the guitars. ^ ^ Thank you for sharing SB, I really need to get out more........there's so much music I'm missing. :/
  • Oh...its MB!

    Haha, its quite trippy indeed. LOL so you're a wine drinker...Yeah, its quite intricate and complex, more like a tunnel of sound with intense distortions and effects.

    Haha, no problem at all MB, its good that people experience other types of music...but i wont listen to boybands if you're gonna asking me that...
  • I have girl friends who love beer but I don't know how they can drink that~! XD I mean an occasional beer is okay but I just don't think it tastes very good. :/ Sorry why am I talking about alcohol on a music♪♪ (・_・)?

    E~hhhhhhh!!!!? I so was hoping that you loved Arashi!....Tackey & Tsubasa?....naiyo ne~. XD
  • I just saw Masu Dore here in Tokyo and WOW! It was just full-on incendiary! And, believe me, I have seen ALOT of band, but I've never seen a more powerful and talented trio like this ever before from anywhere in the world! After their show, I got their official set list and also wrote a short review on their totally incredible performance on July 11th in downtown Shimokitazawa, Tokyo! Check it out:

    http://robpongi.blogspot.com/2009/06/mass-of-fe...

    DOUMO ARIGATOU! :O)
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