The Clicks-Come to Vivid Girl's Room! & Magic of White

On the surface, the Clicks could be easily slotted between Shonen Knife and Supersnazz. The Yokohama-based trio formed in 1998. They honed their sound by playing local live houses, releasing demos and contributing to various artists collections before catching the attention of K.O.G.A. Records. They successfully combined a huge wall of fierce guitars with girl-group harmonies and those super-catchy seesawing Japanese pop melodies across two albums. 2004 was the year of their debut Come to Vivid Girl's Room!, followed by 2005’s Magic of White.

Hooks & Harmonies

The somewhat spacious production on their debut allows for their high-caliber vocals to shine amid the instrumentation. Come to Vivid Girl's Room! was produced by Tomoko of Supersnazz-so there’s a definite rock ‘n’ roll edge to their sound. Their upbeat and sunny vocalizations race along with the charging guitars-reminding me most of the mid-'90s sounds of the Queers. Overall, they build up a surging and solid sound that is consistent as it’s catchy with remarkable rushing melodies. “Contrary’s Person Diary” jumps out of the speakers with the sound, spirit and rhythmic drive of the Muffs. “With Smiling” starts fully charged like “I Met Her at the Rat” by the Queers and offers one of Yoko’s fitting and appealing mini guitar solos. With its perfectly placed “Oh Oh Oh-Oh,” “Get Back!” brings together the Ronettes and the Queers on a subway car out to the Ramones' Forest Hills. The final song “Summer Has Gone” places them in-between the Beards and the Beach Boys with its addition of keyboards, xylophone and layered harmonizing. This dreamy song would also be perfectly fitting for Mama Guitar or the Pebbles to cover.

Sweet & Straightforward
Magic of White presents a more dense and polished production that was handled by the band. They continue to barrel straight ahead with some heavy riffage (almost at a L7 level) before merging into some pop passages and roller coaster melodies. Yuko’s stellar mini guitar solos continue to flash.  “Block Castle” is one of their strongest songs that is showcased in the above video. “Joy” and “Understanding,” both written by bass player Chiharu (ちはる), are other highlights with their brisk tempos and overall exuberance that characterize the classic K.O.G.A. sound. Makoto Sakarai from NUDGE ‘EM ALL provided them the song “Sweet Bright” that has almost a British Invasion bounce to it (namely “Pretty Flamingo.”) The title track “Magic of White” features churning guitars rhythmically pushing the song forward. Their backing harmonies and vocal arrangements truly come to the forefront on “Cherry Tree on the Hill.” This ultra-melodic song sounds fitting for a J-drama before taking off in the direction of the Muffs. “Try or Give Up” brings them back around to their speedy Supernazz sound. “Photograph” is not the Weezer song, but it does sound influenced by them and Ric Ocasek circa the “Green” album.   

As a live act, they made a striking impression by wearing sophisticated dresses that are more commonly worn by jazz acts or groups like Tokyo Groove Jyoshi. After touring Japan in 2005, they officially broke up on November 5th of that year. Bass player Chiharu (ちはる) went to the band Teenline (named after Shivvers’ song and power-pop compilation/omnibus series). Guitarist Yuko and drummer Yuki started their own group called newbie. I wonder if any of the members are still involved with music? Nevertheless, they left listeners these two unsung albums of exciting Japanese-girl-group-power-pop-punk that are now turning 20 & 21 years old respectively. While only around momentarily, you can hear the trio's influence on their contemporaries like the Squeaks, the Dazes and THE PORTUGAL JAPAN as well with younger acts such as the Selectionz and Jamto Highball ジャムトハイボール.  The music they made was immediate, yet enduring as the years have proven their songs were made to last.