Meaning is Overrated

My wife tends to make up her own lyrics to songs she hears. They sound right to her, and they're what she thinks the singer is singing, but they're often wrong. On the occasions when I tell her what they really are - which isn't always - she's often annoyed because she likes hers better. I often do to.

We're in no danger of dealing with this conundrum, though, when listening to This is Love Psychedelico (Hacktone). It looks like a hits collection for the popular Japanese band; I have "Your Song" and "Lady Madonna, U-Utsu-Naru Spider" on a Japan Night comp from South by Southwest from 2001, and those songs and "Last Night" date back to 2000. The duo's knack for melodies drawn from the British Invasion and California '70s rock invite you to try to sing along, and Kumi's relatively fluent English pronounciation makes the transition from Japanese to English mid-line almost seamless. Because of that, it's tempting to try to substitute English homophones for Japanese words, and the English words and phrases that end the lines give you reason to think your words are right.

The tunes and the charismatic Kumi (blood type O, I learned from their Web site) makes the songs work, but the garage textures provided by Naoki (also O) give the songs weight. Hopefully, This is Love Pyschedelico will give someone a reason to keep mining 'Delico's catalog. After listening to it, I went to YouTube and found another handful of songs worth paying attention to. Start here.