cali≠gari - 第2実験室

第2実験室 is, as far as i'm concerned, the best album that the legendary cali≠gari ever put out. cali≠gari started out as a band with eroguro themes, after the literary movement in the 1920s/30s in japan. of course, as a reader of this blog i'm sure you already know a thing or two about eroguro, so i won't go into that.

instead, i'll just talk about the music that they present here. cali≠gari has had two eras of music, one being with one vocalist, and the other being with the vocalist to follow (both were named Shuuji). the sound that they used is also different, even though Ao remained the primary song writer throughout their entire time together. maybe he was inspired by the second Shuuji's vocals to start making a new sound? whatever the reason, after the first Shuuji left, Ao started writing more poppy, funky songs, with a strong jazz influence.

of course, this album was still very, very early on in the band's career, so the post-punk sound was still very strong. and every song on this album is perfect. it's easily one of my favorite albums of all time, and it's what got me into the japanese post-punk scene.
while the music is distinctly post-punk, much of it seems to be strongly inspired by enka music, and other styles of music from the beginning of the second shōwa period. this is probably due to the eroguro themes (of course, i don't speak japanese, so i wouldn't know just how eroguro the lyrics are, but later cali≠gari lyrics still held a strong eroguro theme . . . not like that has any bearing on the sound).

the album starts with a pulsing beat. this sound is present at the beginning of almost every release by the band. this sound would later become echoing footsteps, starting with 第3実験室. the pounding beat is broken by Shuuji's frantic screaming, shouting, and whimpering vocals. the music slowly breaks down near the end of the song (Shuuji's vocals turn into nonsensical whimpering, hissing, and crying, and the guitars are almost all feedback). absolute chaos. but, while the album can be insane, loud, and threatening, it also is very beautiful; half of the tracks are delicate pieces with strong 1980s idol ballad influences. my favorite track is the heart wrenching "オヤスミナサイ". the sounds presented on this track seem to be from a different time, and a simpler place (at least ideally).

download this now or be detested.


1. ギロチン
2. 嘔吐
3. 腐った魚
4. 通り魔の季節
5. オヤスミナサイ
6. 人間ポンプ


ENJOY