New, groovy takes on some favourite tracks.
They say imitation is the highest form of flattery, so there's surely no greater respect that UNCHAIN could pay to those artists they admire. Their latest album Love & Groove Delivery, released 6th February, contains 10 of the melodic core rockers' reworkings of Japanese and Western popular music.
As the album title suggests, the band's distinctive groove sound is a main feature of all their remixes from the off. First is their take on Shiina Ringo's modern classic Marunouchi SADISTIC, already redone many a time by Shiina herself. It’s laidback groove filled with funk guitar and multiple changes of rhythm. Ranging from swinging jazz to hot salsa, it's as if in homage to the original artist's love of myriad styles.
Other Japanese songs have seen a similar fate. '80s cheesy pop tune and "City Hunter" ending theme SUPER GIRL by Okamura Yasuyuki has been brought out of a world of double denim and dated synth into a more raucous one of jazz rock, although no amount of modernising could save the cringe-worthy lyrics. Tanigawa Masanori is as entertaining as ever and ejects the vocals with tongue-in-cheek overenthusiasm in honour of Okamura. His roar of "come on!" at the end is hilarious. Likewise, KIRINJI's old school tune ALIENS has been given a speedier, funkier makeover so that it is now a tune to bop to rather than drop off to.
The pop song that made Utada Hikaru, Automatic, is unrecognisable at first. Its pop core has been stripped out to emphasise the R&B aspect of it. The off-key guitar licks and bluesy rhythm section make it deeply soulful and almost dark in tone, giving it a new and clever slant.
One of the best covers featured is the superb jazz-funk Ai no uta ~Swallowtail Butterfly~, which originally propelled CHARA to fame when she and the fictional Yen Town Band first performed it back in the 1996 film "Swallowtail Butterfly". While the original is a mellow mix of deep jazz bass and light country soul, in this version the boys have decided to kick out the soul and ramp up the tempo for a brighter, groovier track. They've stuck with the sunny country guitar, but the rest is altogether bigger and bolder with a fuller rock sound and more rhythmic bass. The song suits Tanigawa perfectly and the rich, harmonious chorus with extra backing vocals sends the spirit soaring.
One quite unexpected track is that of Korean girl band Girl's Generation. MR. TAXI, a flirty, girly dance number, has been given a racy Brazilian jazz treatment in a cover version that needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. Sato Masafumi's skilled and complex guitar work makes him the star of this one, although all the members deserve credit for a coquettish performance that makes this song a hoot.
The Western tracks are decent but nothing spectacular. Their version of BEST OF MY LOVE is pretty unchanged from The Emotions's original, from the instrumental arrangement to the vocal harmonies. The only difference seems to be, in want of a better word, extra "manliness" factor that the addition of an odd masculine chanting section provides. What a fool believes is less disco than the Doobie Brothers, but as it otherwise retains the features of the original it's not particularly innovative. The same goes for This Christmas, which the UNCHAIN boys must have loved so much that it's included despite the lack of seasonality. As it would be nigh on impossible to create anything as groovy as the original, it appears they haven't tried. Whilst it's a decent effort, Tanigawa's usually engaging vocals don't compare to those of the silky smooth Donny Hathaway and it falls flat. Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing fares better as it's more of a departure from the bossa nova of the source material and is instead a strong bit of Latin-influenced funk rock with some strong vocal performances from Tanigawa and the other band members in support.
There are moments of genius on Love & Groove Delivery, but the band have also made choices which haven't worked out so well for them. What UNCHAIN never fail to do, however, is perform with a great deal of contagious joy and heart, and everything they play they do so to perfection. This album promises love and groove, and this they deliver in spades.
