Tetsuko-Curl

For 25 years, Tetsuko have presented a highly original and distinctive sound with seemingly no readily apparent influences. Art rock undercurrents along the lines of Talking Heads, Sparks, Roxy Music and Haruomi Hosono/Yellow Magic Orchestra may be detected, but their overall sound waves are undeniably pop. This makes sense as they started as a Beatles cover band in 1995. In fact, Reiko 渡邊玲子 has been playing with drummer Yasuyo 関安代 since junior high. The current lineup came together in 1999 at a Kyoto college with bassist Yoko 野瀬陽子 joining Reiko and Yasuyo. 

The trio achieves the tricky balance of aligning a churning rhythm section with Reiko’s charging guitar and charming vocals. They demonstrate their dexterity with dashing twists and turns through sparkling pop that most reminds me of Palomar or Kabochack. The band continuously punches above their weight and whips up an enlarged sound that is both enduring and appealing due to care they place in harmonies and arrangements. The last two years have been filled with momentum as they were headlining stars of Mike Rogers’ 2023 Japan Indies Music Awards that took place at the world famous Shibuya Milky Way Showroom in Tokyo. Further, 2024 has brought the worldwide release of Curl, which could be considered their catchiest, thickest sounding and most cohesive release of their long career.

Ladies First

The album opens in a big way with the seemingly detached trio coming together quickly in musical confluence. “Holy Girl, Tetsuko'' sprints out with a verse that echoes “Summer Means Fun” by Bruce and Terry before bursting into a top-of-the-world melody that could be a theme to a Japanese TV show. “15000th Time” is a floor shifting new wave number topped off with a chorus that seems actually inspired by “Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper. One of their most daring numbers “Permanent,” is pulled off by their finesse along with the telepathy they have established by playing together for 25 years. It's almost Zappa-esque in its amorphous shape shifting and interludes of wooziness fastened by keyboard lines evocative of "Pop Goes the World" by Men Without Hats. It rates up there with “End of Philosophy” from their 2013 candy guitar ep or Ambassador アンバサダー from 2021's Perfect in terms of the band successfully stretching out. 

At times the atmosphere they create evokes the one found in Yoko Ono’s Approximately Infinite Universe, while their songs adhere to Yoko’s songs on Double Fantasy, which more than hinted Yoko was paying attention to Blondie and the B-52's-who Yoko initially inspired in the first place! Following the delightful and brilliant wackiness, is the straightforward Shonen Knife-ish “BABY, BABY, BABY,” one of their several songs with “Baby” in its title. (The others being “my BABY” from 2019’s I Love You and the epic “BABY” found on 2017’s Eros mini-album.) 

Tetsuko are conceptual artists that deliver exceptional goods. Further, they have always displayed a sense of dynamics in their concise and economical guitar-driven pop songs that efficiently motor along like a Honda Civic. Their latest Curl features a thicker, but not slicker sound along with some extra layers of sonic embellishments. Thankfully, the trio continue on as immediate and radiant as ever, while remaining the one and only Tetsuko.