Music

This morning I woke up with Chickenrace – Heartbeat in my head which was a first for me. Generally I don’t listen to a lot of Japanese music, only a handful of bands due to my limited (none) knowledge of the language. This song was introduced to me by Jason who heard it in the opening of an animation discovered them on Youtube. It had everything we loved – catchy synths, chunky bass lines and head-bopping melodies. I didn’t understand a single word of it besides the “every night” and “anyway” in the chorus but it didn’t matter. It showed me that Japanese bands were capable of coming up with tunes that were just as catchy as their western counterparts.

It wasn’t long until we found their discography and listened to all their music. Since I can’t really talk about the content of the lyrics (I haven’t bothered looking up what their songs mean), I listen to them for their vocal melodies and funky guitar riffs – I’ve yet to come across a band that does pop punk funk as well as these guys. Then again, it’s probably quite a niche genre? I don’t know, I haven’t done any searching. I can’t seem to find a lot of information about them online besides a now defunct Purevolume page. Youtube also has a very limited selection of Chickenrace songs so I can’t link all my favorites, but here’s what I’ve managed to find:

Chickenrace – Farewell

Chickenrace – Heartbeat

Chickenrace – Story Of My Life

Chickenrace – ???
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CAh7Ko81Ck

Chickenrace – I Want You Back (cover)

Chickenrace – Sunshine Underground

I’ve been on a rap documentary watching spree recently, it started off with me watching All Eyez On Me – a biopic about 2Pac’s life. It led me down a Googling spree, looking for more information about the unsolved murders of 2Pac and Notorious B.I.G. I then watched Biggie and Tupac (2002) and Who Shot Biggie and Tupac? (2017). It’s amazing how these murders have remained officially unsolved since they were both huge celebrities and were involved in high-profile killings.

Both rappers also had huge entourages, so there were bound to be witnesses or people who know what really went on. However, according to the documentaries, nobody wants to come forward because nobody wants to be a snitch. Fair enough, since snitches get stitches but it also seems so childish at the same time. If you can rap about shooting up cats and doing drugs, why not come forward with information?

Read more

I discovered Hit The Lights many years ago when I was getting into pop punk and their album This Is A Stickup…Don’t Make It A Murder was a random album I decided to check out while scouring the internet for music to listen to (RIP emotorrents). From the opening notes of The Call Out to the closing chants of the acoustic hidden track, I knew I had stumbled upon a gem of a band.

They had everything I enjoyed in a pop punk band – clever lyrics, palm-mute verses, guitar chugs and catchy choruses. The fact that they also featured Just Surrender’s vocalist (one of my favorite bands then) on Talk Us Down was just icing on the cake. The album didn’t have a single bad song and was worth listening on repeat for months (I still put it on from time to time when I want something upbeat and fun).

Hit The Lights – Talk Us Down

Read more