detroit7
NUDE
Review by David Cirone
Long-time detroit7 fans will recognize NUDE’s cover image right away. Vocalist / guitarist Tomomi Nabana’s bare feet are a staple of detroit7’s live shows, and it’s a fitting image for the band’s rawest album since 2003’s Vertigo.
Straight out of the gate, the album’s “JOY” commands “GO GENKAI! BUKKOWASE WARE!” — a challenge to destroy everything in their path. This is an album that wants to beat you senseless, and if Tomomi’s full-force scream doesn’t convince you within seconds of hitting the “play” button,” she delivers some scorching guitar work in the follow-up track “Furueru Sora” (Shaking Sky).
In “Nounai POP,” Tomomi name-drops her hero Iggy Pop, and it’s a noisy jumble of sound that leads directly into the Amazon warrior screams of “BREAK.”
“Discocactus” is the album’s stand-out track, and probably the best entry-point for new fans who aren’t yet ready to take off their shoes and get comfortable with detroit7’s strong dose of garage punk. “Discocactus” delivers one of Bassist Nobuaki Kotajima’s finest recorded performances, providing a solid spine for the song’s multiple layers. It’s a track worth listening to with some really good headphones.
There’s a slower groove and slick bass in “Largo” that gives us a rest from NUDE’s otherwise fearsome onslaught. “Sounds of Time” and “Largo” feature all-English lyrics, and “Sounds of Time” gives the spotlight to Miyoko Yamaguchi’s outstanding drum work and some cool change-ups, proclaiming with (perhaps temporary) optimism:
Have you ever seen the falling star?
The stars are shining for a billion light years
Years on end, we wanna be like a star
The stars are shining gently
and making sounds
“I Know I Don’t Know” is another three-point, nothing-but-net shot for the backline team of Nobu and Miyoko, and while Tomomi’s shredding is a little brief in the recorded track, it’s a prime opportunity for these great musicians to cut loose. You can see videos of this track (here and here) already starting to expand in live performance on detroit7’s YouTube channel.
Recommended tracks: Discocactus, Furueru Sora, Sounds of Time