After doing the 5 quick reviews on US albums and EPs, here is are 5 more quick reviews. Although this time they are of Japanese albums and singles this time.

Perfume – Fushizen na Girl / Natural ni Koishite
Release Date: May 14, 2010
Genre: Pop, Techno
Language: Japanese

I can’t really explain why, but I find this amazing. It’s just so damn catchy. That’s pretty much the only thing I can think of to say about this double A side single.

Overall Rating

5 Out Of 5

Kaela Kimura – 5Years
Release Date: February 3, 2010
Genre: Pop, Rock
Language: Japanese

This is pretty much a collection of all of Kaela Kimura’s singles released in the last 5 years. It’s a nice collection and most of the songs are great. Granted there are some songs from her albums that I liked that didn’t make the cut on this album. Although, for those who go and get the 2CD version are in for a pleasant surprise as the second CD contains a ton of new songs. Songs that I thought were great. So definitely go with the 2CD version if you can.

Overall Rating

4 Out Of 5

Chatmonchy – Expression [Coupling Collection]
Release Date: May 11, 2010
Genre: Alternative, Rock
Language: Japanese

This is a collection of B Sides from the band Chatmonchy. Even though these are B sides these are definitely great songs in their own right. So if you never bothered to get the singles these songs were attached to, this actually holds up well as an album in it of itself. It’s got a great mix of fast and energetic songs and slow mellow songs. Definitely a good collection of songs to be found here.

Overall Rating

4 Out Of 5

Guruguru – DIG DAG
Release Date: May 7, 2010
Genre: Rock
Language: Japanese

It’s rock, it has female vocals, and it’s well done. What more do I have to say? I mean I think it’s worth a listen at the very least.

Overall Rating

4 Out Of 5

Zutans – To Omotteita
Release Date: February 10, 2010
Genre: Alternative, Jazz, Rock
Language: English

This is actually a pretty interesting sound to me. I like the usage of piano and it goes very well with the bass and drums. Also the female vocals aren’t bad and all of these elements just seem to work together. A lot of the songs are slow and mellow, but I especially like their few faster paced songs on this album. I would say this album is worth giving a listen to.

Overall Rating

3.5 Out Of 5

I kind of have slacked off in the album review department for quite so time, so here are some reviews to play catch up. I will start off with 5 quick reviews of 4 US Albums and 1 EP.

Four Year Strong – Enemy Of The World
Release Date: March 9, 2010
Genre: Pop Punk/Alternative
Language: English

Just like Four Year Strong’s previous album, this is another sold album by the band. Granted on some level I still think I really enjoyed the songs on the previous album more overall. However, this album is still good in its own right. The songs are energetic and aggressive just the way I like it. Even with the aggressiveness, you can still gain a sense of “fun” in some of the songs. Also slightly harsh vocals seem to work for this, even though they try to go with a happier pop sound in a lot of their songs.

Overall Rating

4 Out Of 5

We Are Scientists – Barbara
Release Date: June 15, 2010
Genre: Alternative/Rock
Language: English

I’ve always liked We Are Scientists and thoroughly enjoy their sound. This album gives me no reason to believe otherwise. Keith Murray’s vocals and the band’s instrumental works are awesome as usual on this album. I don’t know I just really feel the indie rock vibe and sound their songs have. It’s just so good.

Overall Rating

4 Out Of 5

The Morning Of – The Way I Fell In
Release Date: May 11, 2010
Genre: Pop Rock
Language: English

I feel that this is a well executed sophomore album by the band. I love how the guy and girl vocals blend and contrast with each other. I also like how they use more piano on this album but still use a good amount of rock elements in their songs. The best example of this would be the song “Dance With me” that can be found on this album. I can easily say that is my favorite song on here. But don’t get me wrong there are a lot of solid tracks on this album to listen to.

Overall Rating

4 Out Of 5

Eyes Set To Kill – Broken Frames
Release Date: June 8, 2010
Genre: Screamo/Rock
Language: English

To be honest, I liked their album Reach a lot more than is one. The slow pace songs I did not care much for and the faster songs with screaming were a bit mediocre for my tastes. Overall, the album felt a bit lacking for me.

Overall Rating

3 Out Of 5

We Are The In Crowd – Guaranteed To Displease
Release Date: June 8, 2010
Genre: Pop Punk/Alternative
Language: English

Their sound isn’t really ground breaking or new, but it is a pretty decent attempt at it. Granted the girl vocalist makes this seem like an attempt at being another Paramore, since she kind of has a Haley Williams sound. The guy vocalist and the instrumentals are pretty average for pop punk style songs these days. Though since they are relatively new to the scene, I will give them the benefit of the doubt for now.

Overall Rating

3.5 Out Of 5

Release Date: January 19, 2010
Genre: Alternative Rock
Language: English

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Release Date: October 6, 2009
Genre: Alternative Rock
Language: English

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Release Date: October 20, 2009
Genre: Rock
Language: English

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