013. suilen - tsuki ni naku

月に泣く (Tsuki ni naku; Moon cries)

Japanese 4:38
Electronic Rock, Indie, J-Rock

from Rikka no ne (2009)

I clearly remember going to Wal-Mart one late night, and I saw a frumpy kid wearing a "J-Punk Sucks" T-shirt.  I secretly concurred and smiled inside.  Okay, so Suilen isn't punk by any means, but the slogan pops into my head regularly when I hear anything new out of the Japanese rock scene.  I won't go as far as to say that J-Rock and all its sub-groups are bad.  It's just that I've grown past the "visual kei" (those bands where the guys wear elaborate costumes and make-up, and sing guttural, borderline emo) and droning power pop.  Since I have such low expectations, it's hard to be devastated when a song sucks.  I initially gave Suilen a try because I thought it was going to be a new album by a retired Chinese singer (Cuiling) I knew of.  I realized the mistake early on with the first listen.  Suilen (Chinese for "sleeping lotus") is an obscure Japanese duo made up of singer Shakuyaku (real name: Hiromi Frolesca) and her husband, composer Maki Fujii.  It's clear that Suilen takes some cues from the mother of contemporary female Japanese alt rock - Shiina Ringo.  Shakuyaku's voice is the opposite of Shiina, though.  Hers is thicker, lethargic and possibly more emotionally stunning.  "Tsuki ni naku" is a dark and scratchy electro-rock ballad that sedates the cynic in me.