ZIZ - GIFT

ZIZ
GIFT
2012/05/29

1. Ö
2. RayD5
3. Ill
4. Besque
5. Kosmostill
6. Night Creature
7. Super Naked Disko
8. Sanityman
9. With Fu

Közi is a longtime favorite musician of mine, so it's no wonder I'm capping off my first cycle of ABCs with one of his projects, the cool new-wave 'n' roll of the debut ZIZ album.

MALICE MIZER was one of the very first Japanese bands I got a taste of back when I got into this whole visual kei business, so naturally I've been keeping my eyes on the members' subsequent bands and projects. I was especially drawn to the weird and quirky world of Közi from the get-go. His debut singles and first solo album "Katharsis" were already regarded as sort of modern-day classics among my peers in the online VK community (at least here in Hungary), and I ate them up too! When he announced his new band ZIZ I was all over it, and blindly ordered the CD from Amazon Japan as soon as it was available.

It was hard to predict what kind of music "GIFT" will bring, seeing how just in my own time following him, Közi had already dabbled in darkwave, industrial, indie pop, new wave, synthpop, hard rock, post-punk etc. The end result of this collaboration between musicians leans towards the rock side, that's for sure, with added spices. The most compact analogy I can think of is a mixture of the melancholic melodies of his first solo album and the more in-your-face instrumentation of his second one.

Right away we are greeted by a warm fuzzy electronic whirlwind of an intro courtesy of synth-player and sound manipulator Yugami, which builds up the anticipation nicely. Then it's off to the races with the chunky new wave rock 'n' roll vibes of "RayD5" (ready go!) exploding into our ears. The prominence of distorted guitars continues on the next tracks too, with some more kooky and off-kilter (at times almost jazzy) compositions. No matter how weird things get though, Közi always drops a few catchy vocal lines to bring us back home safely. This catchiness is even more prominent starting from the middle of the album, with songs such as the soaring, ethereal "Kosmostill", the bouncy earworm rocker "Sanityman" or the mechanical and melancholic closer "With Fu".

Needless to say, all the musicians are in top form while presenting their ideas in these tight little arrangements. Besides the brilliance and songwriting craftsmanship of Közi, the aforementioned Yugami always provides a neat (and comfortably analogue-sounding) electronic treatment that shifts the songs in interesting ways. I also have to give a big shout-out to my main man Chargeeeeee on the drums. The dude is a beast, constantly coming up with fun beats that also pack quite a punch. This is nowhere more evident than in the band's live performances, of which I luckily experienced one in the year this album came out. Whether on record or at the livehouse, it's always a good time with these guys!

This concludes my first cycle of visual kei ABCs, I hope you had fun reading. I'm gonna take a bit of a break now to gear up for round two. I might try some new things next time format-wise or maybe I'll go over an omnibus (various artists) album before starting again, who knows. Thanks for sticking with me so far, see you soon!