Month: January 2020

Only a few group managed to hit me as hard as them with a debut song; honestly, “ピーターピーター” (Peter Peter) is probably one of the best debug songs I’ve ever heard. When you hear something like this from a newcomer unit you start wondering who is behind the project; and then you read the name of the infamous Vocaloid producer 鬱P (Utsu-P) who came up with the idea of creating an idol group. And he even kept some of the virtual singers’ vocals here and there. That’s seriously awesome.

Not as awesome as Zsasz‘s first ep though, which consists of five songs of which four were originally Vocaloid tracks, except “ピーターピーター”. In just twenty minutes, the group shows off some of the most solid and expressive vocals I’ve recently heard in the idol scene; put them on Utsu-P’s aggressive, melodic and at times bizarre alternative metal sound and you’ll get the idea of what this album sounds like.

The songs themselves are nothing short of incredible, from the composition to the production; Utsu-P enjoys getting a little bit of weirdness here end there, sometimes drawing in circus-like music and merging it together with Japanese scale melodies, but even putting these quirks aside their songwriting is top-notch. You’ll find yourself listening to these songs like in loop starting from “食事” (Shokuji), not being able to stop until your ears start bleeding. Which never happens, by the way, since “ぬいぐるみになりたい” (Nuigurumi Ni Naritai) is such a great track that you’ll forcefully stop any drop of blood just to give this ep one more listen.

I’m being serious: I’ve probably listened to this 20-minute album like fifty times in a few days and I’m not even remotely getting tired of it; how could you get tired of listening to “麺屋ぐろてすく” (Menya Grotesque)? This speaks a lot for how awesome Zsasz, Utsu-P and this album are.

Needless to say, this is a group we’ll need to keep an eye on. In case you don’t believe me, go give them a listen or buy a copy on Idol Underworld (hopefully it will get re-stocked).