Summerman - Fan CD

Super Capsaicin (2018)

One of the best discoveries I made when I went to Japan last year was a band called Summerman.  Their last album Temperature Is... has been on a non stop loop ever since I picked it up.  It's just one of those perfect albums.  Now Summerman is back with their sophomore full length called Fan.  It's aptly named as I am a huge fan of these guys.

While I tend to favor the Japanese bands that slide a bit more easily into the Snuffy Smiles style of gruffer punk rock, Summerman wins me over with their sheer mastery of hooks and ability to build song structures.  Summerman has more in common with bands like Silver Scooter or Falls.  They construct their songs using delicate layers of jangly guitar lines coupled with a forceful rhythm section that keeps the energy level way up.  

There are three guitar players in this band and while the punk rock part of my brain sees that on paper and thinks it might be overkill, when my ears actually hear the complex, but supremely catchy melodies they create with this set up, it's hard to argue its effectiveness.  Let's not also forget to mention, they cover a Chester Copperpot song on this record, which is absolutely insane to me.  Their treatment of "No Wonder"is a revelation, giving the song a fuller sound and a different vibe while still maintaining the same levels of pure joy that the Chester version manages to convey.

I do wish this had come out on vinyl and I'm hopeful that one day it does get released in that format.  But no matter what format it could possibly come out on, there's no denying how great Fan is.  Summerman has put out a pretty stellar release and it's one of the albums I've been listening to the most this year.  Absolutely worth checking out.

Summerman - "White":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsIl9MFUqGk

Summerman - "Super Health":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2J9mBxIXMg

Summerman - "No Wonder" (This is a live version, not the one on the album but you'll get the general idea):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD2lU49VZgE

Summerman - Live At Kichijoji Warp 16​/​9​/​16​ (​Fri​) Cassette

Too Smell (2016)

A few months ago, I wrote about the Summerman album Temperature Is...  In case you missed that review, let me save you some time and tell you to stop reading this review and go try to buy that album.  It is tremendously great.  That being said, the reason I bought that album was because of this cassette.  At the PopKid/Waterslide show at What's Up in Tokyo, several of the members of Summerman were at the show and this tape was given to me there.  So let me start off by saying thank you again for the tape.

Live At Kichijoji Warp is exactly what it says, a live recording of eight Summerman songs. Most of them are from the Temperature Is... album, but they've got a couple of new songs that are exclusive to this tape (mysteriously labels as "New Song 1" and "New Song 2").  I already know and love the album tracks with "Winter Bargain" and "Summer! Summer! Summer!" being real standouts.  The two new songs are also quite excellent.  "New Song 1" is upbeat and jangly with squalls of guitar feedback piercing through the verse and a hugely triumphant chorus.  "New Song 2" is slightly more low key, but its bouncy guitar riffs and another spectacular chorus make it one of my favorites on the tape.

Now, any live show recording is going to have some fidelity issues, this doesn't sound like a studio album or anything.  But, it shows a glimpse of a great pop band plying their wares live.  I worry that I'll never get the chance to see them play live, so this cassette is the next best thing.  The sneak peak at a couple new songs just makes me even more excited to hear more music from these guys.  Hopefully there's a new record coming soon.  I've already heard rumors of a cover song that they're working on that has me quite intrigued.

Summerman - Live At Kichijoji Warp 16​/​9​/​16​ (​Fri​):

https://toosmellrecords.bandcamp.com/album/summerman-live-at-kichijoji-warp-dogs-on-acid-japan-tour-2016-9-16-fri

Summerman - Temperature Is... LP (/200)

KiliKiliVilla (2015)

One of the most amazing times I've ever had was at the PopKid/Waterslide show that happened while I was in Japan.  I've written about it over the course of some of the reviews I've done since I've been back.  This album is another direct result of that show.  While there I was able to meet so many wonderful people who were in bands I already admired and some who were in bands I hadn't previously heard of.  One of those bands I hadn't heard of before was Summerman.

A very kind fellow was nice enough to give me a Summerman live cassette.  While I haven't written about that yet, I will be in the future.  But that cassette inspired me to dig around for some more information about Summerman and I found out that not only had they released a full album, but it was actually on vinyl too.  I picked up a copy right away.

Temperature Is... quite simply is wonderful.  I absolutely love this record.  It's exactly the sort of thing I like to listen to.  The bulk of the album is breezy guitar pop with jangly guitars and lots of harmonies in the choruses.  There are parts of songs that remind me of the song structures of Beezewax but with a fuzzy dose of Superchunk tacked on for good measure.

The entire album is fantastic, but the true peak is a song called "青春" (On the band's Bandcamp page it's called "Youth" and Google translate comes up with the same thing when I type in 青春).  To put it plainly, this is one of the best songs I have heard in a long, long time.  I can't think of many songs that I love as much as this one.  From the way the guitars slowly build up at the beginning, to the main lead guitar riff blasting in, to the impassioned vocals that get even fuller and more dynamic as the song progresses, I love every single second.  I don't say this often, but "青春" is an absolutely perfect song.  Perfect.

A friend in Japan said the band is working on some new songs and I couldn't be happier.  I really want to hear as much as possible from Summerman, a great, great band.  

Seriously, go listen to "青春" right now.

Summerman - Temperature Is...:

https://summermanjapan.bandcamp.com/album/temperature-is