Kakuni “Onsen no Kedarusa”

From Sapporo, Kakuni are a two-piece, guitarist Aoi Maeda and drummer Yumi Ozaki, with both women singing. With jangly guitar and sparse, simple drums, and girlish chanted vocals, these songs aren’t too far from late Sekiri, though with more emphasis on a low-fi art-pop aesthetic rather than Sekiri’s punk rock roots. The name Kakuni comes from a pork belly dish, of all things.

They don’t drag things out — most of the songs are just a couple of minutes long, and all ten fly by in just over half an hour on this self-released CDR. There’s some fun stuff, with bits like the silly reverbed vocal gymnastics on “Asonde” and tongue-in-cheek musical motifs tossed in here and there. It’s pretty charming stuff that mixes garage rock with some avant leanings and goofiness that keeps things on the entertaining side.

Find out more on the band’s website here.

Listen to “Asonde” by Kakuni.

~ by ongakublog on April 15, 2009.