PUNK – CHAI Album Review

Track Listing

CHOOSE GO
GREAT JOB!
I’m Me
Wintime
THIS IS CHAI
Fashionista
FAMILY MEMBER
Curly Adventure
Feel The BEAT
Future

CHAI’s second album PUNK is a heady cacophony of Indie Pop and intoxicating, uplifting punk rock. Sprinkled with a quartet of cute Japanese vocals, the result makes this as chaotic and hypnotic to listen to as it is beautiful and endearing.

CHOOSE GO! is a suitable way to open the album too, kicing off the album with a flurry of distorted drum beats, a heavy bass guitar and fast-paced lyrics. From here, the girls spin a musical web of sounds as they flirt with different effects, instruments, keys and tempoes. The result is an album that has all the ingredients to be a cacophonic disaster but somehow transcends into something incredibly addictive.

Personally, my two favourite tracks come back and forth midway through the album. THIS IS CHAI highlights the discordant, off-key chorus notes with simple vocals and a really quick tempo that borders on sounding like Gabber. This contrasts beautifully with Fashionista, a slower, bouncier track that brings the vocals to the foreground to showcase the vocal range the girls have. It’s a really nicely worked transition too and shows some intelligence and thought with the track placement.

With a bright aesthetic, driven vocals and songs that hit you from all sides of the musical spectrum, Punk is a bold album and something as unusual as it is unique. While the actual track composition is a bit basic and the tracks offer very simple melodies, the way everything comes together is really what makes this album so endearing. While it may not push any boundaries music-wise, it’s likely to be one of those albums I keep coming back to throughout the year and it’s lasting appeal makes it one of the biggest surprises this year.