We live in exciting times, don't we? A new album has been announced, as well as the biggest gig our beloved queens of metal have ever done: Tokyo Dome, capacity: 55.000. So right now might be a good time to take a step back and (try to) answer some fundamental questions that need answering. And no I'm not talking about whether or not they are actually metal. To be honest I find that question so uninteresting it's not even funny. I hope you're just as anxious to discuss these questions as I am, and will join me in my journey of pointless speculation. If not, then I apologise for wasting your time.
Question 1: So why all the hate?
It is not enough to simply say that that's what some people will just do in response to something that challenges the status quo, not even when referring to metalheads. Sure, a lot of them see themselves as part of a culture, a group identity. It's a badge of honour worn proudly. That tends to make you feel confident to decide what or who should be part of your scene. Who do those girls think they are to just prance in here, dancing around and acting like this isn't something to be taken super serious?
There's more to it than that though. After all, BM isn't the first to come under fire from these people. It's just the fire was rarely this intense or long lasting. No, reaching the next layer in our explanation requires our hazardous spelunking expedition to the depths of these nigh impenetrable minds to touch upon that contentious word: weeaboo. Let's not kid ourselves, despite all the efforts of Japanese media and government agencies, if there's one thing Japan still isn't, it's cool. Being a fan of Japanese pop culture is decidedly uncool. Though we live in an age where it's much more socially acceptable to be uncool, don't think that doesn't still have an effect on some people. Few things are as typical of Japanese pop culture (to the western mind at least) as the idol: a sort of cross between a role model, a pop star and a salesperson, dipt in a sauce of overwhelming sweetness. If you're the kind of person who looks down on that, the people praising it might as well be recommending tentacle hentai to you. To you all Japanese media falls roughly in the same category.
If you're offended by that (and I'm talking to the real you now, not the hypothetical one of a few moments ago), because of how obviously wrong this is, I would urge you to consider that you might have similar views on other groups of people. Perhaps you think of all football fans as violence prone. Perhaps science fiction fans are, to you, awkward and nerdy, and the media they consume no less so. Perhaps you feel a certain way about bikers, or, as I've often had to endure myself, anthroposophists. It's quite a normal human reaction to the unknown to view it as monolithic, even if that isn't something to be proud of.
So that gives the haters a reason to be cocky and dismissive, but why the anger? Here too I must confess a certain empathy with these people. The rage they feel is one I recognize all too well. Often these people will list bands they feel as more deserving of coverage than BM. So, could it be that their anger actually comes from a good place, a place of love? I remember being dumbstruck time after time at which acts got their time in the sun over the ones I like. Sometimes it's an artist which I just don't get (I still don't understand what people see in Taylor Swift). At other times I'll see artists I positively loathe bathe in adoration. When I try to share the music I like it's often greeted with bemusement: "yes, yes, you go do your little thing over there while we'll hang out with the popular music". That can only happen to you so many times before you start to get mad. Your love for your music is genuine, why don't they see in it what you see? So you start looking for people to blame and an easily identified bunch of villains are those big corporations with their devious marketing strategies.
Of course the real reasons for the dichotomy between popular and niche music are a lot more complicated. I'm glad I've gotten myself out of that pattern of thought, you hurt no one but yourself with it. For some within the metal community though, BM probably wears the smell of corporate marketing. Maybe their initial dislike comes from prejudice, maybe not. But seeing an act they don't like being hailed by the media strikes a very familiar nerve with them. Then they find out the group was put together by a talent agency and they didn't even know what metal was before that, and that seals the deal.
Question 2: Can BM serve as a gateway to new genres?
I remember a dark room many years back. It's late at night, and my sister and I are sitting behind my dad's computer browsing this brand new website called "youtube" for interesting stuff. Then we come across a fragment of a Japanese entertainment program, featuring young women in overly cutesy, brightly coloured clothes, complete with short skirts and ribbons, dancing in front of an equally hideously coloured decor. The music they perform is poppy and sung with high pitched, cute voices. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen before, and I seldom laughed as hard as I did then.I've certainly come a long way since then. In my defence, I was kind of in shock at the time that something I thought was just a made up stereotype turned out to really exist. At one time I also couldn't imagine valley girls to be real. So when I now see how much milder and more open minded I've become towards idol music, it's really something. Okay, I shouldn't exaggerate. I still think Momoiro Clover Z is only mildly entertaining and hugely exhausting to listen to for an entire album. I'm also appalled that a group as popular as AKB48 can be so while delivering music that's this bad. In fact, Sturgeon's law holds in idol music world just as it does in any other industry.
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| Nice song, terrible video. |
On the other hand I did find a few songs that pleasantly surprised me, in Japanese pop as well as Asian pop in general. Sure I can admit to humming that little saxophone riff in that one Juice=Juice song when I'm in a good mood (even if it's possibly the most boring music video I ever saw). Sure I will admit to having Momoiro Clover Z on my iPod, sitting comfortably between Modest Mouse and My Bloody Valentine. Looking at K-pop for a second, even though Girls' Generation is responsible for the existence of the worst album I ever heard (thanks TJ) I will admit to finding the pop version of Pavement's Gold Soundz in their first single Gee. In other words: I adore it.
Then there is of course Sakura Gakuin, spawning ground of the metal wonder. As I mentioned before I listened to all the albums and I can't deny they all have a certain appeal. The first is filled with nicely paced, sparkling, uptempo pop goodness with an experimental streak to it. The second significantly ups that experimental aspect. It also confirms my belief that the person responsible for the production of the later single version of Iine dropped the ball, because this album's version is definitely superior. Still, both are kind of hit and miss. It's the third album that really grabbed me, the first of them that felt like more than the sum of its parts. It features a slightly more traditional sound, compensated by a return to melodic focus rather than experimental fluff. The result is something that goes beyond the simplicity of pop songs sung by young girls, invoking as it does a kind of nostalgia to my own childhood. These are girls having fun indulging in the theme of discovery, woven throughout the album, while sometimes looking over their shoulder in a fit of melancholy like they're telling me: "Don't you wish you were here again?". It really does give me that sense of childhood wonder that Daft Punk's Discovery was so good at summoning, though that did it without getting childish at the same time. My Generation (as the third SG album is called) doesn't quite manage that and admittedly it can be a bit boring at times. But for what it is, it's very good.
The best part of this entire revelation? It's all thanks to BM. They're the reason I gave all these groups a chance to begin with, and they sort of softened me up to be able to appreciate them for what they were. There are two things to note here however. First: I may not be representative of most listeners. Not everyone is as hungrily searching for new music all the time. There have been quite a number of threads about this on the sub, and most people say they have only been minimally affected one way or another. And that's assuming these are the hardcore BM fans that visit the sub. What about all the more casual listeners? To this my answer is: just give it time. With me it's been a slow process that's still far from finished, why should it be any different with anyone else? I think there has been a small but significant shift with every single BM fan in the way they listen to music, be it concious or not.
Second thing to note: Koba didn't really set out to convert people like me to J-pop when he created BM. He wanted to conquer the metal scene of course, but he was also hoping to bring metal to the masses of pop fans. If we are to believe Metal Hammer and certain Japanese news reports he's making good progress in that direction in Japan. Over here it's a different story. BM may be making headlines in the world of metal, outside it they are still virtual unknowns. This varies from country to country of course, but, with one exception, everyone I know that knows about BM had to hear it from me. If this will change in the future remains to be seen. It all depends on if BM can succeed in their mission of world domination. More on that later.
As for myself, I never had the hostility towards metal I had towards idol music. I just kind of viewed it with disinterest. If there's one thing that definitely changed it's that disinterest. I want to get more into metal music, I just feel I don't know quite yet where to continue from here. I revisited some of my old crushes like Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, tried some songs here and there, but just haven't found the right vibe yet. Iron Maiden seems like the obvious next thing to explore, having their song Paschendale stuck on repeat for times on end, though that is just as much because of my love for history as the song itself (and yes, I know about Sabaton, don't much care for them unfortunately).
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| Shall I....? |
So my answer to if BM can open the way to new genres is: yes... but. Yes, but it will not happen over night, it will only happen to people who let it happen, and for many it will only happen if BM continues their march to the top, like they have been for these past few years, and manage to capture the mainstream consciousness as wel as that of the metal scene. I do hope people open their minds for something new, it makes life so much more enjoyable. It doesn't have to tarnish your identity or whatever. For me the album of the year is still Currents by Tame Impala. My focus hasn't shifted, it has merely expanded.
Question 3: Really now, what makes BM good?
Believe it or not, this is by far the hardest question to answer. You wouldn't think it would be, right? With all the reviews and all the street interviews with fans, surely we have figured out by now what is so likeable about our girls and their music? And yet I've had incredibly difficulty explaining why I like them so much. It's like the vocabulary I normally use to analyse music isn't sufficient any more. So let's take a look at some common motifs in other people's praises of them.First thing you hear often is that they're "bonkers". They're weird, strange, freaky, you get the point. Does that also make them good though? I'd say no. They're weird all right, but there are plenty of weird things that are nothing but cringe worthy. Next thing you'll hear is that they're "new" and "fresh". Also true but ultimately misleading. If that's all there was to them they would've faded away long ago. Because of course they haven't been new for a while now. They were formed in 2010, went years as a mere sub-unit before finally getting some considerable attention in Japan in 2013 and had their first big break in the west in early 2014. That's almost two years ago now. I'm not saying that these aren't contributing factors, especially for new fans, but I wouldn't have stayed with them all this time if that was all there was to it, and I have a feeling the same goes for a lot of fans.
So what about the traditional ways that idol groups ensnare their fanbases? By that I mean flaunting cute and pretty girls before their mostly male audience to arouse their instincts. These needn't necessarily be sexual, although there are idol groups out there who don't make any secret of the fact that that's what they're going for. Looking at the BM subreddit and the Facebook groups will quickly leave no doubt that for many fans the girls' cuteness is an important part of their enjoyment too. But BM is hardly unique in this, and yet they are the first to capture this kind of audience. That they are the first to do metal (the first to do it right anyway) may account for some of that, but not all.
There has to be something we can point to in their music. Most I usually hear in this vain are vague comments like "I like the way they mix metal and pop" or "it's exciting the way they manage to mix different styles and genres". That puts us on the right track. Is BM style over substance? It most certainly is! But as a guy you might have heard of once said "Quantity has a quality all its own" so do I think that an abundance of great style has a substance all its own. It's true that the way they mix different styles that on first glance shouldn't go together creates a very appealing and unique style of their own. But it goes further still. Their style has an unparalleled richness to it that I don't think even most fans are aware of. The kawaii image is certainly part of it, indispensable even, but they've managed, seemingly effortless, to absorb so many styles of metal and non-metal, it's marvellous.
Now we come to the crux of the matter. Many have alluded to this before, but I don't recall anyone ever connecting all the dots and describing the big picture. It's all a matter of balance. Cuteness can be fun but too much of it, like idol groups tend to do, is probably only fun if the rest of your daily life plays out in a dreary office job in Japan. BM doesn't downplay their cuteness in any way, but it never saturates us because of the metal side of their style. It's one curtailing the other so that, no matter how much we absorb of either one, it's always offset, never too much. In other words: BM have found a way to be both outrageously over the top on one hand and restrained and subtle on the other. They can be theatrical and magnificent in their presentation, they can be overwhelming, making you enjoy things you didn't even know you needed in your life, all while seemingly never going to far in any direction, because it's all balanced out. They can make you dance to Doki Doki Morning one moment and moshing your way through Gimme Chocolate the next. They look like they could do it with anything too, gobbling up any interesting musical genre into their ever expanding new style.
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| Not holding back on the kawaii |
Some people don't like it. Perhaps they just don't get it. I know what that's like. It seems strange to me now but I distinctly remember listening to OK Computer for the first time many years ago and not liking it. Much of it has to do with mindset. What are you listening for, what are you expecting, what do you want from your music? It also has to do with growing accustomed to a certain type of sound, training your ears if you will. Let's hope BM will stay around long enough for people to get across that barrier. I think they will find something to like in the rich stew that is their music.
Stuff at the end
All three previous questions feed back into what is probably the ultimate question: Will they succeed in their mission? Are they good enough to pull it off, will they convert the world to metal once again, and if they do, will there be a generation of purist metalheads that remembers them with fondness rather than disgust? That's something unfortunately even I can't answer. I do think I took a decent stab at the other ones though, so everyone can stop worrying about it now. With all the arguments this undoubtedly prevents, I'll be expecting my Nobel peace prize in the mail soon. In the unlikely event that you have anything to add or discuss though, I look forward to hearing from you. Cheers ;)
Music listened to while writing:
Albums:
- Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
- Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
- Panda Bear - Person Pitch
- Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights
- R.E.M. - Murmur
- Pavement - Gold Soundz
- Juice=Juice - 私が言う前に抱きしめなきゃね
- Iron Maiden - Paschendale
