The Watanabes - Draw What You Like (Favourite Tree
Records/Boom Boom Records)
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| The Watanabes - Draw What You Like |
It's not often you receive a
parcel from Japan containing a CD and even less often that the band in question
is part British and part Japanese. The Watanabes are an anomaly, that's for
sure, but the biggest anomaly is just
how much these four gentleman have made me fall in love with their music. You
see, for the past few weeks every journey in my beaten up car has been
sountracked by this EP and the delightful range of styles these guys display.
The EP opens up with 'There's Something Wrong' and from the first few notes of
the daintily lively organ riff you can't help bit fall for this tune. The
energy and freshness of the likes of the Coral, the Thrills, the Magic Numbers
and the Zutons is there in full force but there's something else, something more
edgy that reminds more of the Doors or the psychedelic movement. And that's
just the first song.
On '28 Years' the lyrics take a
depressingly early look back at life from a particularly young vantage point -
"It's been 28 years and I'm full of existential fears. Is that normal for
my age?" they sing atop a Badly Drawn Boy-esque melody with acoustic
bounce and a sense of wry fun. 'Make Things Better', in all seriousness, ought
to come with a health warning. So delicate is the melody and so entirely
touching is the lyrical sentiment that this song still makes my eyes well up
even after 100 listens. This is the song Coldplay were trying to write when
they coughed up 'Fix You'. Up next is 'Yuriko Yuriko', a tune of lightness and
whimsy despite the lyrical content which is a bitter-sweet tale of love and
loss with gentle keys that lilt and sway beautifully.
The EP closes up with 'Drench You
In Sun', an uplifting track that could feature on a Feeder album and leaves a
gorgeous, sun drenched flavour in the mouth as these guys drift gently out of
the door and off to flutter around another unsuspecting blogger's ears. What I
love most about these guys is the
delicate, intricate and labour-of-love construction of these songs that makes
it feel like they were made just for you. And that is the way music should
feel. All the time.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/thewatanabes?fref=ts