April 28, 2025 — Weekly Bullet Reviews
This week’s picks are courtesy of the YouTube algorithm, Reddit, and our Instagram account! Great stuff, as always.
Aooo – “Fragile Night [フラジャイル・ナイト]”
Justin: Sharp edged j-rock that helps cut through the work bureaucracy of my week. Gives delicious anime main character energy. High impact, melodic, with fire-starter vocals. The bass kicks ass on this so listen with headphones.
Li-Wei: Aooo are relatively new on the Japanese music scene, but they’re already well-positioned to be the next rock-adjacent J-pop sensation. “Fragile Night” immediately sounds ripe for soundtracking the opening to an energetic shonen anime, and if it doesn’t soon then someone’s not doing their job correctly. Shout-out to the bassist on this track – through my modest headphones, it’s really coming through on the mix.
Echo Lanterns – “Can’t Risk It”
Justin: It’s giving Goo Goo Dolls and I like that. Equal parts folksy, indie, and pop – an enrobing road croon tune. All the instruments work well together, with a special shout out to the instantly catchy guitar phrases and unstoppable tambourine. Great for the tailgate and the In-N-Out after anything.
Li-Wei: I don’t know what it is – maybe it’s the way that vocalist sings, or it’s the rootsy guitar – but “Can’t Risk It” brings me back to riding in the car in the early 2000s, listening to contemporary alt bands like The Fray on 1043MYFM here in Southern California. “Can’t Risk It” has some sick harmonies in there that stick, too. For a song about not wanting to let someone down, I’d say that they succeeded with this one. I can’t wait to tell all my friends about it.
Justin: City pop, R&B, and dance? Quite a combination I’ve never really seen mixed together. The brass and bass and keyboard combo is fascinating. Something about the music video aesthetic and vocal delivery reminds me of Skullgirls. I could also easily see this track on any Japanese rhythm game. If you’re reading this CECILIA, maybe consider licensing to them and letting me know if you can make bank!
Li-Wei: This one’s all glamour and dazzle! City pop spans genres, and “Technicolor You” is more jazz vocalist/idol oriented rather than funk. CECILIA does it well. “Technicolor You” is all about teaching someone to express themselves and hey, empowerment anthems are always welcome here.
Justin: The rhythm reminds me a lot of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.” The vibe though is giving Third Eye Blind. I didn’t expect the vocals to sit so far apart from the instruments, creating a sense of levitation and reverb that feels strange on the ears. An odd, lighthearted track I think is worth a couple of listens to appreciate.
Li-Wei: I saw snippets of the music video for this before actually listening to the song and I’m pretty surprised – I was ready for a grizzly country-style folk ballad but that’s not what I got! I remember RICEWINE being kind of lo-fi circa 2017-18, and “Uncut” changes that up with a buzzing synth-line, prominent guitarwork, and a rambling cowboy spitting straight truth. Pleasantly surprised with this.
Also, any music video where you can destroy your keyboardist in a Western-style quickdraw is a win in my book.
Justin: Refined, well-balanced plate-spinning of musical ideas. Avoids the flatness of simple lowkey tracks with beautiful character moments for the instruments. Drama-inducing piano chords, well considered feedback bursts, a lonely horn, a chirpy acoustic guitar heartbeat. Claire Chicha’s delicate and multidimensional lyrics pair sublimely with the track’s complexity. Like salt on chocolate. Mind-expanding.
Li-Wei: I’ve kind of lost track of spill tab as an artist, but the last time I was really impressed with her stuff was back when she released the bold “PINK LEMONADE” off her upcoming album, which I loved. “Hold Me” is not that. It’s a smooth lie-down-and-chill R&B jammer which gets really sentimental… which is fine! But I’m hoping that Angie will have some more off-the-wall experiments now that I know what she’s able to do.
Justin: Accurately captures the feeling of a college house party when you have to ask yourself how you even got there. Production feels like Rina Sawayama and Fruity Loops and well… College along with Desire from the Drive soundtrack. It would be ironic to call this a college electronic dance track so it’s a college electronic dance track. Easy to do a lil dance by yourself to.
Li-Wei: “lukewarm beer” has all the hallmarks that any introverted person at a party dreads – not knowing what to do with your hands, desperately wanting the night to end, and feeling way too self-conscious about yourself. Honestly, same! This one’s a steady synthpop bopper that feels confessional in a way that reminds me a lot of Su Lee’s initial work. You can find me dancing to the way noremi sings “I just wanna go home” on my way out the door.
Coming Up Roses – “I’m In Bed”
Justin: Hahahahaha. Omg. “I’M IN BEEEEEEEEED.” Incredible, hilarious, not-so-serious borderline indie-pop-punk. Immediately iconic straightforward silliness. Please watch the music video.
Li-Wei: Yes, I know that being unable to get out of bed is one of those telltale signs of depression (definitely have experience in that field), but Coming Up Roses’ visual for their indie rock song is hilarious. The video shows lead singer Emily Sera being dragged all around the city in her bed by her bandmates, and it’s a fun piece of visual comedy (shout out to the “No Beds” sign at the venue). Song-wise, it’s kind of a hilarious premise that takes the act of bedrotting to the extreme, but the “I’m in bed!” chorus slaps hard when it finally hits. I don’t know of many songs that make a spectacle out of Grandpa Joe-ing it, but this is the new gold standard for that.
Dream, Ivory – “Solar Eclipse”
Justin: The boys are back in town. Dream, Ivory sends up another fuzzy shoegaze track swimming in static. Narrative takes more of a front seat compared to previous work, telling us the story of separated lovers waiting to meet once again. I imagine they are space aliens waiting for some epic hug causing cataclysmic solar flares. <3
Li-Wei: Slowcore? Shoegaze? Whatever you want to call drenched guitar-haze and fuzzed out lights, that’s what “Solar Eclipse” is. I don’t remember Dream, Ivory sounding quite like this. When’s the new album coming out, again? (Oh, it’s July 18th. Mark your calendars.)
Justin: Playful and cute groove driven indie pop from Thailand. Even-tempered and chill vibes if you are into Su Lee and Pastel Sky.
Li-Wei: Between this song and her viral “pity dirty,” Thai indie-pop musician pami has cornered the market on pleasant sounding R&B-influenced jams played over footage of her just standing around. This one immediately reminds me of indie lo-fi artists like Ruru, early Luna Li, and Numcha.
Thanya Iyer – “What can we grow that we can’t see from here?”
Justin: An immersive question in an equally immersive track that Thanya Iyer invites us to consider and manifest. Harps, thumping drums, and skittering synths roll out a magical, spiritually shifting runway led by Iyer’s guiding, airborne vocals. For fans of Low Leaf and Luna Li.
Li-Wei: Listening to this one evokes the feeling of being on a strange acid trip. Thanya Iyer’s music has become more abstract over the years, and that’s a cool thing to behold.
Header photo taken from RICEWINE – “Uncut”.
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