Garnet Crow - Locks (2008)

GARNET CROW is a Japanese pop/rock band formed in 1999 and associated with the Giza Studio record label.

Garnet Crow is supposed to be another Japanese pop/rock band in the vein of Ikimono Gakari and Shimokawa Mikuni, but there's one thing that makes them stand out from the crowd: an overwhelming ABBA influence. It's hard to say whether it was intentional, or if it just happens to be the result of the natural development of vocalist Yuri Nakamura's voice, as well as the band's songwriting, but tracks like "Namida no Yesterday" and "Kaze to Rainbow" sound so much like ABBA that even the Japanese lyrics don't make a difference. This may result in an initial turn-off, because bouncy Europop of old is pretty different from the expected J-rock sound, even if both styles are awash in sentimentality. But Locks still has a Japanese, not Swedish, backbone, and there's enough Bryan Adams/'80s rock influence, as well as sunny moods and dynamic guitar pacing that are the actual reason to enjoy commercial rock music from the Far East, and besides, ABBA didn't achieve their mega-stardom for nothing. The vocal lines and melody progressions employed by Garnet Crow may be sappy, but they're dead effective -- more so than those employed in average J-pop/rock songs, which are often shy to the point of becoming indistinct. There's nothing shy about Garnet Crow's approach to writing songs, and even though their tendency to manipulate the listener's emotional centers is obvious, Locks is still a very enjoyable ride.