With a positive response from debut single Hydrag and mini-album Virginity, GOTCHAROCKA presents a sharp image and crafted rock sound in second single Poisonous berry. Released on March 6th, the single is entirely composed and arranged by the talented JUN, and lyrics are by Jui.
Poisonous berry is addictive, powerful and arguably, “poisonous”. Jui’s voice grows shrill on some of the higher notes but contains emotions well while JUN and Toya together create a stunning guitar line that stretches beyond the reaches of visual kei into rock. From the beginning GOTCHAROCKA was promoted as a rock group with an “American” twang to its music, and naturally, this concept comes to light. A 45-second teaser for Poisonous berry is below, but the full PV is included on the limited edition of the single—well the worth the price.
The opening to Terminal is as strong as the rocky melody. Jui sings the first verse in English; his accent isn’t too bad, but to an English speaker, it’s impressive. The chorus is full of energy: JUN sings backup vocals to compliment Jui. Terminal is a song destined to play on repeat.
A deep, muffled bass voice speaks a line before catchy rock number Full bocco! takes full charge. The title makes reference to an ASCII art on 2ch and NND online communities:
∧＿∧
( ･ω･)＝つ≡つ
(っ ≡つ＝つ
/ ) ﾊﾞﾊﾞﾊﾞﾊﾞ
( /￣∪
Its arms (made up of hiragana “tsu” and ≡ to show movement) punch or poke and exert its “full power”. It focuses all energy towards an activity though there is a hint of “beating up” someone, likely because of over-excitement or too much energy—like the intensity between boxers during boxing matches. Considering this meaning, GOTCHAROCKA’s Full bocco represents the desperate, borderline aggressive need for individuality with the line “don’t just be anyone”, and achieving that by any means possible, for the sake of being stronger. For the entire first verse, Jui sings “tsu tsu tsu” and mimics the sound and feeling of the kaomoji punching and later, “shu shu shu” and “ba ba ba”. He sings with some minor wordplay as well. With this much detail even in the lyrics, listeners can experience a taste of GOTCHAROCKA’s “full” impact and potential.
All in all, the four have put their all into creating Poisonous berry. The three tracks―each word, every second―have been carefully composed and crafted. With Crisis coming up this July, there is much to look forward to: many new tracks plus a new PV. Finally a PV for Gotch6ka and a new image!
