Keys to Everything

1. Polyrhythm
2. plastic smile
3. GAME
4. Baby cruising Love
5. Chocolate Disco
6. Macaroni
7. Ceramic Girl
8. Take Me Take Me
9. Secret Secret
10. Butterfly
11. Twinkle Snow Powdery Snow
12. Puppy Love

Exams? What exams?

I have only recently heard of Perfume, so I know little about them. GAME begins with Polyrhythm. Takes a little while to get going, but I really like this song. The processing of the groups voices is really good for the most part, there are a couple of times when I do think ‘What was that about?’ but Polyrhythm is a catchy and rather addictive track.

Track Rating; A-

plastic smile, in my opinion, is better than Polyrhythm. I like the melody more and I love the introduction and the fact that that section of the song is reused in the chorus. Infectious is probably the best word to describe plastic smile.

Track Rating; A/A+

GAME has a slightly heavier sound. With just as much energy as the previous two tracks you’d expect it to be just as good, but there’s something about it that doesn’t scream ‘replay value’ at me. I don’t really like the chorus and after a while GAME starts to irritate me a little.

Track Rating; C+/B-

Baby cruising Love was the first song I’d heard of by Perfume. I think I listened to it a maximum of twice. I like the English lyrics, even though they don’t particularly make sense. Now that I listen to it with hind-sight, I realise that it’s a very good song. It plays down the techno elements and processing to great effect.

Track Rating; A+

Chocolate Disco is my second favourite song on the album, without a doubt. It’s happy and the repetition of the line ‘chocolate disco’ is, surprisingly, not annoying. Probably because the way they pronounce it is cute (Chocoreito Disuko). Addictive and energetic.

Track Rating; A*

Macaroni sounds quite jazzy to begin with. Again the processing is toned down to fit the song and this shows that the girls do have great voices. Macaroni is a little too slow for me, though I do appreciate that it’s good.

Track Rating; B

I love the repetition at the beginning of Ceramic Girl. The pace of the lyrics in the verse is really refreshing and contributes a lot to the song. It’s a great pick up at the end of a slower song like Macaroni.

Track Rating; A

Take Me Take Me is too long. It takes forever for it to really go anywhere. I just don’t find it a very interesting track at all.

Track Rating; C

Secret Secret is the entire reason I downloaded this album. I watched the PV about three days before the actual album was set to release and totally fell for the song. I love the chorus to a ridiculous extent and even though the introduction irks me a little with the starting and stopping, every time this comes up on my MP3 player, I have to stop and listen to the entire song.

Track Rating; A*

Butterfly simply has a lot to live up to, Secret Secret being the awesome track that it is. Unfortunately, like Take Me Take Me, it takes a little too long to get going. Though I wasn’t convinced at first, I really do enjoy the vocals, though the chorus is a bit pointless in my opinion.

Track Rating; B-

Twinkle Snow Powdery Snow is a great song, definitely. It’s a little hard to explain, but the techno elements and the strategic use of the word ’snow’ really work in the songs favour. Also, the baseline of the track is quite funky and carries the rest of the instrumental well.

Track Rating; A+

Puppy love is another less techno song. More instruments, less computers when it comes to the music. Of course, the vocals are processed, but it does work with the song. I’d like to hear an un-computerised version to see what it would sound like. It’s a great final track though, ending on a high note, but not too energetic, because in my current state of mind, I would not be able to handle that.

Track Rating; A

Overall…. This album really isn’t a casual listen. It’s underwhelming if you don’t give the songs your full attention, but when you apply yourself to the tracks it’s easy to see why Perfume are so popular. Their music is specifically aimed at one style, but somehow manages to be pretty mainstream. Of course it has its ups and downs but it’s a strong album.

Overall Rating; A-