[Review] PIGGS – 5 KILL STARS

by Garry



My thoughts on “5 KILL STARS”, the new EP from PIGGS.


 
Release Date: December 16th 2020

Tracklist

1. Kumanbachi no dokuhaku
2. The Strangers
3. Forever Young
4. THANKYOU FUCKYOU
5. Future Stardust

 

In the end, while 2020 did offer up quite a decent number of new groups it still definitely wasn’t in the sort of volume that we’ve come to expect from Japan’s usually very vibrant Idol scene. We don’t really need to go into the reasons for why that was the case, as it feels like pretty much every review intro I’ve written in the last 10 months has made mention in some capacity the current situation we’ve been stuck in for way too long now. In any case, we have sort of had to take what we can get and in some cases these new groups have more than delivered.

PIGGS probably don’t need much of an introduction, given that they’re produced and fronted by the very well regarded and loved Pour Lui. Not the worst place to start from if you’re a new group, that’s for sure. They’ve still been doing a whole bunch of crazy stunts to get their name out there though, with one of the more recent being a “walking tour” of sorts where they literally walked between all of the venues on their recent tour. I guess it’s only cruel and unusual when Watanabe is involved though, because everyone seemed to enjoy these antics a great deal despite them being no different and perhaps even slightly worse than the usual WACK marathon. That’s a can of worms we should probably leave well enough alone though.

“5 KILL STARS” is PIGGS’ first EP and follows on from the group’s debut album “HALLO PIGGS” which I reviewed several months back here if you’d like to go back and check that out before we dive in on this release. I dig the throwback vibe to a lot of the group’s material, which typically hits that 70s or 80s period musically and that’s an era that I’m quite fond of. As such, I hope we get a bit more of that here but given the EP’s title and some of the song names I’m thinking we might be trending in a harder, Rock sort of direction on this one. Who knows though, it is Pour Lui after all so I wouldn’t be surprised if something unpredictable ends up being pulled from her very extensive wheelhouse. Guess there’s only one way to find out, let’s hit play and take a listen shall we?

My prediction of something a little harder and more Rock focused appears to be pretty well founded so far, as the EP’s lead track “Kumanbachi no dokuhaku” kicks things off by taking us down a distortion laced, Garagey Punk Rock sort of path. Some really nice energy from the opening instrumental and the gang vocals though fairly simple in their lyrical content are definitely setting the right sort of tone for a song like this in my opinion. The intensity increases further still as the song develops, though the vocals are providing a nice melodic component to things that does a good (or bad I suppose, depending on your preferences) job of taking the edge off a bit and giving the track a bit more of an Idol feel. This is probably felt the most in the choruses though honestly, where things really do get quite Poppy and melodic for a bit with some pretty catchy lyrical hooks too which is always a nice thing to hear. Outside of that though we’re treated to a pretty lively Rock song that I think should probably appeal to quite a lot of people as it does have that sort of retro vibe to it that’s pretty popular right now. Fairly short by today’s Idol standards at a little bit under 3 minutes but PIGGS make good use of their limited amount of time here by cramming in a whole bunch of personality, hooks and cool guitar riffs and show once again that in a lot of cases less really can be a whole lot more. If this is a sign of things to come on this EP then not only are we off to a really fun start but I think we’re going to be in for a pretty good time with this one, but let’s keep going and see if I’m right or not.

Things take on a much lighter mood on the EP’s second track “The Strangers” which has an opening instrumental that has a kind of…funky marching band sort of vibe to it I guess would be the best way I would be able to describe it. Its been a long year folks, my brain isn’t quite what it usually is. It quickly morphs into an upbeat, fuzzy sort of Pop song with some nice piano melodies and a catchy beat to accompany the clean and very natural sounding vocal performance. It’s a little bit of a Ballad in terms of style I suppose so certainly coming from a different angle to the song that came just before it but PIGGS have some pretty impressive vocalists so it’s a pretty easy stylistic change for the group. Though I would say that given the track’s length I wouldn’t have minded a bit more variety in tone every so often because it does sort of get a bit forgettable after a while, but that’s coming from someone who isn’t super into this style typically anyway. The choruses are also a little bit underwhelming, choosing to stick out by making use of some rather piercing high notes which has the intended effect but probably not for the right reasons. The lyrics are pretty catchy though so there’s that. I also rather liked the melodies both vocal and instrumental that are scattered throughout the track, and the twangy guitar solo in the bridge is also right up my alley too so while there are certain elements to the track that I didn’t particularly care for, there was also quite a good chunk that I liked quite a bit too. Kinda 50/50 on this one I guess it would be fair to say.

Okay, so I was like 95% sure that third track “Forever Young” wasn’t going to actually be a cover of the hit Alphaville song but ya know, there was that small part of my brain that dared to wonder “What if?” Of course it didn’t end up being the case and that’s fine, though I kinda wish what we did get was a little bit more than the mid-tempo Rock Ballad that we ended up with. Don’t get me wrong I can appreciate muted guitar riffs, steady drumbeats and a nice accent of orchestral and piano melody as much as the next person but this style is really, really played out at this point and especially when it comes to Idol music. The vocal performance is of course great, and brimming with emotion and passion but the style of the performance really isn’t anything that we haven’t heard before and at times you can definitely pick up on a bit of a WACK influence despite this project’s best attempts at putting itself comfortably out of arm’s reach of Pour Lui’s former business partners. I’m definitely being way too harsh on this track I know, it’s just not the most exciting thing in the world to me is all, even if there are several moments that I thought were pretty cool like the very intense repeating of the song title towards the end or the orchestral melodies throughout. It’s an almost 5 minute track though and by the end of it I was just kind of over everything because while it’s all nicely laid out and executed, they really aren’t doing too much in all of that time. I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who will absolutely love this one and tell me that I’m wrong but for me this definitely feels more like filler, and as good quality as it might be I know for a fact that PIGGS can do a whole lot better when they want to. Let’s move on.

In another instance of references that definitely aren’t what I think we are, we have fourth track “THANKYOU FUCKYOU”. Probably not a callback to the catchphrase of famous wrestling manager/promoter/podcaster/etc Jim Cornette but that’s just how my mind works folks so there it is. Super chaotic synthesizers and a bunch of distortion is a pretty fitting way to get things started on this one in my opinion, with a pretty quick tempo fuzzy Rock arrangement also serving as the backbone of everything else that’s going on in this rather busy sounding track. The vocals also get a heavy coat of distortion, which isn’t really something I’m super keen on as you all know but it kinda works with how frantic and unhinged they’re trying to make everything sound so in that sense they’ve done exactly the right thing here. There’s actually a pretty catchy Pop song buried in here somewhere if you care to take the time to dig around for it, though the Rap parts of the track were a little bit random given everything else involved I thought. Once again PIGGS show us that they’re perfectly capable of producing an infectious chorus, though I’m not sure how willing most people would be to sing along to the song’s title while out in public. It definitely strikes that balance between wit and humor rather well though so what’s not to like, right? Granted there is quite a lot going on here like I mentioned previously, and the track’s main sound isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea but if you’re after something fun with a bunch of personality then this song is providing that in its own unique way.

The honor of closing out the EP falls to “Future Stardust”, which in all honesty has a title that makes my mind instantly start flashing the word “Ballad” in giant neon letters. Turns out I was pretty on the money when it came to that assessment too because this track is in that sort of sentimental, soft Rock with light piano style that we’ve all probably heard a few dozen times at this point because pretty much every group active or defunct has done at least one of these in their day. There’s nothing wrong with it of course and PIGGS certainly have the vocal talent to put in a great performance on that side of the coin with soaring melodies and raw emotion aplenty. It’s just that the instrumental is about as by the book as they come which sort of lets things down I guess, if you even have any hope that a group might try to put an interesting spin on a song like this in the first place. It flows pretty much exactly as you’d expect it to, the tone is pretty standard for this style and there’s just not that many creative ways I can describe these tracks anymore. If you like this stuff then it’s another fine entry into catalog but if you’ve had your fill then in my probably much too harsh opinion this one is a pretty easy skip. It’s solid, decent, etc but there are already a million other option so you’re sort of spoiled for choice when it comes to this sort of thing. Kinda disappointing way to end the EP but I suppose I should have perhaps seen it coming.

Man, I really wanted to like this release a whole lot more than I did. Don’t get me wrong, all of the tracks are “good” at worst and PIGGS put in some great vocal performances but out of the 5 there’s maybe only 2 or so that I thought stood out in any meaningful way. Everything else sort of felt like filler or rather unimaginative but I’ve been listening to this stuff for years at this point so I probably have a much wider frame of reference than the target audience. Maybe next time then.

Speaking of which, hopefully the next PIGGS release will be a bit more interesting. They seem to be giving them each a rough theme of sorts so it’ll be cool to hear if that continues or not the next time they have some new music for us. It’d also be nice to hear Pour Lui get a bit more out of her comfort zone every so often but given how established she is as an artist already I probably shouldn’t hope for something that drastic at this point. Still, she’s nothing if not unpredictable so as always I await her next exploits with interest.

Rating:



 
Regular Edition


Regular Edition


Enjoy the content? Consider supporting the site on Ko-Fi for as little as £1.