My first review in months, and there’s nothing much to say about it. We’re talking conversational and playful singing and lyrics (it’s really not funny beyond the initial “pfft” sound it elicits from the listener), with blues and sad-boy contemplative guitar strumming. His impressive list of gigs with great bands reminds me of how just taking action alone can get you cred. Going out on a limb commands respect, and PWRFL POWER’s Kazutaka Nomura certainly does that. He can play pretty well, but his naive coyness isn’t as effective of more mentally unstable artists. There, I said it. Daniel Johnston’s a lyrical genius next to this dude, but he does have a certain shakiness and dangerous marginality that prevents him from being just a cute novelty.
PWRFL POWER is a cute novelty. And I mean “cute” in the worst sense of the word. I mean in the current SNL sense. Or, if you’ve caught this IFC sketch show, in The Whitest Guys You Know sense. It’s more concerned with being precious than being funny, and that’s neither fun nor intriguing. I don’t see how goofy naiveté augmented by ornate guitar work qualifies something as attention worthy -- but here it is. Everyone loved “Lazy Sunday,” and I thought it was just another current SNL example of cuddly, cult of cute bullshit. But it was still way more clever than anything on here. Faust mixed humor and musicianship in infinitely more intriguing ways. Ween have as well (though they’ve frequently come off like beer swilling, misogynistic jerks in the process).
At times, the songs seem simply confessional, with awkward, un-poetic observations. But the music is just pleasant, and the singing is naked in a snicker-inducing way, rather than charming (i.e. -Phil Elevrum). Then there’s the references to texting and digital cameras that only adds to the cutesy, ain’t modern love kooky-type lameness. The only people I could recommend this too are those who are easily charmed by sparse and superficial gimmickry. Anyone with discerning taste will suss this out for the sicky sweet nothingness it is right off the bat.