Super Frisky – For Buddy (Burai Core Records)
I know, consciously at least, that judging books by their covers is largely frowned upon. But it’s hard to avoid, especially when confronted with the staggering number of sources from which we can draw our information and entertainment. Had I not known anything about Super Frisky before hearing their album, I likely never would have given it a chance.
Super Frisky – For Buddy (Burai Core Records)
I know, consciously at least, that judging books by their covers is largely frowned upon. But it’s hard to avoid, especially when confronted with the staggering number of sources from which we can draw our information and entertainment. Had I not known anything about Super Frisky before hearing their album, I likely never would have given it a chance. For one, the band’s name is Super Frisky, which makes it sound like a high school ska band or something. Second, the title, For Buddy – I don’t even know. Buddy Rich? Buddy Ebsen? Beats me. Third, the cover that, at best, looks like some third-rate Meat Puppets knock-off.
But the one giveaway was the band’s pedigree. Having members of some of the best Japanese hardcore bands – Judgement, Tetsu Arrey, and at one point both Paintbox and Death Side (the guitarist for the latter two bands was a member of an earlier incarnation of the band – the equally weirdly named Buckwheat – prior to his 2007 death) – should be enough to pique the interest of anybody who’s into that sort of thing, though For Buddy acts more as a conceptual extension of the members’ previous bands than as any sort of analog.
The album begins with a brief intro of joyous-sounding vocals over percussion and handclaps, the sort of thing that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on any number of the freak-folk albums that were moderately popular a half-decade ago. Once this ends, the band launches into a non-stop succession of songs that combine a Motorhead-ish rock-n-roll hardcore vibe (though a little rawer and more stripped down than a lot of the arena crust bands that’ve been throwing in that sort of sound before they sign to Southern Lord or Relapse) with yelped yet melodic female vocals overtop. After the aforementioned intro, there’s not really any variation between the songs to speak of, which could possibly wear on some listeners – the album clocks in a little shy of forty minutes, which is a little on the long side for a thrashy hardcore band. However, each of the songs individually is solid enough that it’s hard to really criticize. And although much of the lyrical clarity is lost in translation, there’s an invigorating positivity and inspirational energy coursing through the lyrics that manages to not come off like the corny or motivational speaker-ish sentiment most hardcore bands can come up with.
The whole thing comes off as really pure in its intent, in all facets: in the single-mindedness of the musical approach, in the lyrical content, even the insanely low price tag (eleven bucks with shipping is a hell of a lot less than it costs to lay hands on most Japanese punk). It may have benefitted from some concision, and there may be a lot of people that would never give it chance based on the presentation, but any fans of the members’ older bands, or of bracing, energizing punk in general, would do well to track this one down.
