Love Psychedelico
This Is Love Psychedelico (Hacktone)
By Emily Becker
Published: April 29th, 2008 | 11:19am
Intentionally or not, Love Psychedelico is defined by contradictions. Although their name implies a shambling, experimental vibe, Love Psychedelico is a tight Japanese pop (“J-pop”) duo with a little rock around the edges. Not that you’d ever guess they were from Japan since Kumi (vocals, guitar) and Naoki (guitar, bass, keyboards) play with almost no trace of their home country. Kumi spent part of her childhood in San Francisco but plucked her American accent right from the Great Plains. This is Love Psychedelico is the band’s first American release and is a compilation of their first three albums. The oldest song, “Lady Madonna” dates back to 2000, while the newest tracks were culled from 2004’s Love Psychedelico III. Oddly, nothing from the band’s most recent original album Golden Grapefruit (2007) was included.
This is Love Psychedelico samples a wide range of musical styles, but the guitar-driven rock tunes stand out (“Standing Bird,” “Everybody Needs Somebody,” and “O”). Kumi and Naoki channel Ono and Lennon with some success on “A Day for You.” Too often, however, the songs are blandly predictable, at times resembling Sheryl Crow (such as on “Your Song,” “These Days,” and “Fantastic Days”) and even Britney Spears. “All Over Love” is a poorly executed dance track weighed down by the pure cheese of the multi-tracked vocals. Kumi’s habit of mixing Japanese and English — which is common in J-pop — should make the songs more compelling, instead it calls attention to her weak lyrics: as in “Now I see in your eyes / Mou aisu me mo nai na koraekirenai nakoi o kesshitecryhora / Oh, baby it's wrong / What did I see in you?” on "My Last Flight." Ultimately these dated and all-too-ordinary songs make This is Love Psychedelico a forgettable introduction.
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Love Psychedelico's MySpace page
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