Bonito generation

"PC Music-affiliated trio Kero Kero Bonito have found the sweet spot between sounding out of time and ahead of it, all at once. Their no-fat nuggets have the hyper-slickness of kawaii J-pop, while harking back to an era (the 90s, obv) when high-concept chart hits were as ubiquitous as boy bands' curtains (...). They describe their own music as "bilingual schoolyard dancehall" - vocalist Sarah Midori Perry sings and raps in Japanese and English - but their songs are best when they stop being so satirically cutesy and zip somewhere else".

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"Of course, more often than not, these tracks are just bangers through and through; every one an earworm ready to burrow into your brain. It's an album crammed full of massive singles; the musical equivalent of a table full of gaudy, delicious cupcakes. You know too much of it is probably bad for you, but you can't help but diving in and sampling each and every one with relish. More importantly, in this garbage year, it's the perfect escape from it all. Welcome to the Bonito Generation, the dancefloor is waiting".

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"KKB have made an optimistic and important step toward a wider listenership, including the potential for a mainstream pop audience. Fine-tuning the subversive attitude behind their naive front, KKB rides the narrow frequency that sits between uncritical pop product and art school radio, and in so doing manage to nonchalantly and charismatically critique their surroundings".

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