Boku Wa Collector [Import]

Product Description
Japanese Limited Edition in an LP-STYLE Slipcase. Includes Eight Additional Tracks Not on the Original Release.

Boku Wa Collector,Collectors,Teichiku,Rock

Average customer rating:

An excellent debut from an underrecognized band

Boku WA Collector
Collectors
Manufacturer: Teichiku
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00023GSCE
Release Date: 2004-07-05

Album Details

Japanese Limited Edition in an LP-STYLE Slipcase. Includes Eight Additional Tracks Not on the Original Release.

Customer Reviews:

An excellent debut from an underrecognized band.......2004-08-14

The Collectors are a completely unknown band outside of their homeland, and I've always found that to be a remarkable shame. To be sure, some of the Japanese bands that have established American fan followings deserve that status: Pizzicato Five, Cibo Matto, and others definitely enrich the American musical scene. Yet far and away, the Japanese musical representation in America is of the lowest form of J-pop, from kitschy acts like Morning Musume to the frightening stable that is Johnny's (SMAP! Kinki Kids!), often brought over on recognition from anime or other pop-cultural excess while actual musical groups languish in obscurity.

...

Well, then.

As I mentioned, the Collectors haven't made a dent in the American collective consciousness, but this is hardly deserved. The band formed in the wake of the 80s "neo-mod" exploision; inspired by films like Quadrophenia, a Japanese craze for all things Mod swung into high-gear, and countless bands stepped up to perform their versions of Who, Kinks, and Small Faces/Immediate label tracks. Few of these new neo-Mod bands wrote their own material, though, but Hisashi Katoh's "The Bike" were an exception. With a few personnel changes, Katoh formed The Collectors, comprising of himself on vocals, guitarist Kotaro Furuichi, and the rhythm section of Itoh "Chorky" Toshiharu and Kenji "Ringo" Tamaki (a fun game: which one do you think is the drummer?).

The Collectors became the first band to be signed to a Japanese major label, and this, their first album, was released in 1987 (this re-issue dates from 2004). The drum sound is a bit suspicious, and the production style has a touch of 80s sterility to it, but "Boku Wa Collector" is generally blessedly free of poisonous late-eighties pop influences. This is an excellent collection of well-written Mod-pop; the band at times sounds like an odd combination of early XTC, The Who ("Pictures of Lily" and "Early Morning Cold Taxi" Who, not "Baba O'Reilly"), and The Easybeats. This is power-pop, but it's of a style that doesn't quite call to mind Big Star, Jellyfish, and Posies comparisons; even as the band would move on to a more rock oriented approach on later albums, they still maintain their own identity.

As compared with later Collectors' albums, the playing and singing here is somewhat endearingly sloppy; in particular, the rhythm section is mixed far more prominently than it would be later on. The album starts out with a veritable one-two punch featuring two of the band's bigger tracks. "Collector" begins the set, and it's a wonderfully catchy thing; one of the bonus tracks is the "Neo-GS" Strings remix of the cut, which tempers the 80s production values even further. The group's biggest 80's hit follows; "Too Much Romantic" is twee, and probably has awful lyrics--the big advantage of not being able to understand Japanese--but follows "Collector" in being insanely catchy and well written. Other standouts are "Go! Go! Go!" with its frantic pace and interesting bass hook, and "Funny Face."

Cons? As I mentioned earlier, The Collectors write their own material; more specifically, Katoh writes all of the songs. He's a great songwriter, but he occasionally spreads himself somewhat thin; "Problem Child" and "Robot Factory" seem to fill the same "niche," if that makes any sense, and "Dinosaur" is a bit too reverent of 80s balledeering transitions to fit in with the rest of the album. There's also precious little sophistication at play here, but as this is the band's first album, they can hardly be faulted for this.

I should also note that this reissue may or may not have attendant sound problems. The "remastered" tracks on previous Collectors Baidis-era comps have ranged from the very good ("Baidis Years Vol. 1," released in 2000) to abysmal ("Baidis Years Vol. 2," released in 2002). As I'm wary of plunking down cash for an album I already own, I can't tell you which pattern this follows, unfortunately. I *can* tell you that most of the bonus tracks appended to this reissue are in fact drawn from the two comps mentioned above, so if you can grab an older copy of this disc on Amazon Japan, you're not really missing out on anything.

Verdict? I love The Collectors, and they're my favorite Japanese "lost-cause" band. Are they "important" like P5, The Moonriders, or Carnation? Goodness no. But they're an excellent group all the same, and they deserve more recognition in the States for their unique brand of well-written Mod-powerpop.

Rock Music:

Rock Music