Of the 10 tracks, we see quite a few of the singles make their way onto "The Puffy" so some of the songs like "Paffipipoyama" stretch back five years. I think it would have been nice to throw in "Datsu Dystopia" and "Sweet Drops" onto the album as bonus tracks. I mean why stop at five year old songs?
As a bonus is a DVD with their 25th Anniversary Concert at Line Cube Shibuya. I have not watched that one yet, but I will get around to it... which I think I totally lied about when I did the the review of "Bring it on!" Okay I have two things to go watch.
Some of the good news here is Puffy wrote the lyrics for five tracks. Of note, "The Puffy" was in the making for years and different producers handled each track. The production is not wildly inconsistent across tracks produced over an extended period, which was a surprise. Puffy has done albums that way before to good effect. The issue is with many of the songs, more on that later,
1. Essafossa
2. Pathfinder-
3. Choegoist-
4. Paffipipoyama*
5. Susume Nonsense*
6. May Be Sinful-
7. Coco Hawaii*
8. Bouken no Dadada-
9. Sunlit Hill
10. Always-
* Previously released as/on a single
- Lyrics by Puffy
I'll get into more over all feelings after final grades. Here are my thoughts about the songs after a re-listen of "The Puffy." I go this route because I think it gives a more honest review of what I hear at the time. I only did a second pass to clean up my writing. Here is a track by track breakdown:
The lead in track "Essafossa" is a standard kind of Puffy song these days that could be written in their sleep. Not a bad thing, but also a sign of things to come. Its funky, not too up or too down. I think it was probably the better choice than "Pathfinder" for the first track. I also do not think it is the better song between the two. This is the start of many conflicting feelings about "The Puffy."
"Pathfinder" is a little more upbeat than "Essafossa" and feels like a track that should have been on "Bring It!" Also the song is in English and I would have to guess Ami had more of a hand here given she speaks English. The song itself has nice pacing and jumps from some fast bits to slow to mid to fast in a rock wrapper. Its my favorite song from the album and a good choice as the single.
"Choegoist" is a song that feels like a big girl group jpop song with tinges of Perfume. There are also rap elements, to which I wish they would avoid that, it does not resonate. Overall this is a nice song to listen to, but it also feels a little out of place if you look at their career arc. Anytime Puffy tries to flex this way it doesn't work, they can be themselves... they owe nobody an apology for their uniqueness!
I was going to try and give "Paffipipoyama" another chance a half decade would blunt my complete distaste for this song. Nope. Its just a random mix of song styles and sounds with a frenetic weird Japan sound. Nothing about the song works. Again this got onto the album and slightly older and better songs were left in the dust? In the strata of bad Puffy songs it sits above "Wake Up, Make Up" and "Himitsuno Gimmy Cat Ufufu Hontouyo" but that is a low bar.
"Susume Nonsense" has a throw back feel to earlier jpop songs. Not a bad thing. Vocal delivery is a little less intense than the instruments. Probably by design, but Ami and Yumi feel a little in the back seat on this one. There is a lot going on in the underlying mic of this song, so it is interesting and engaging.
Slowing down the album is "May Be Sinful" which maybe would have been well placed in their earlier albums, it isn't a sound that I think holds up. Its not a bad song, not one I would seek out either.
Written for a travel TV show, "COCO HAWAII" is a fun non-sequitur of a song. Back part of the song is in English, which kind of like "Good Buddy" is an interesting twist. "COCO HAWAII" is kind of all of the place but in a quirky way that works. Ami and Yumi and very much in command on this one and I like their assertive delivery.
Leaning on a lot of horns and a 70's sound, "Bouken no Dadada" didn't work for me. I'd say it is a notch above easy listening and that is not music I liked at the time, much less now. It is not badly sung, it doesn't land a sonic punch.
"Sunlit Hill" steps up the pace and kinda feels like Puffy doing a song that is more contemporary in the jpop scene. Puffy has a bit of an edge on this one, I could see a band like Nemophila doing it with a ton more energy. Overall this is a good song but if you threw "Sunlit Hill" at me blind I would not recognize it as a Puffy song either.
Wrapping up "The Puffy" is "Always" which vibes a jazz / ska song. Puffy has used this sound to good effect over the years and it is alright, it isn't quite dialed in and ends the album on a slight "meh" note.
"The Puffy" is an album fans of Puffy have been waiting a decade for and as great as "Thank You" was, this album is a let down. Just not worth the wait and a bit heavy of an admixture of songs that we've heard years ago which is to say songs like "Paffipipoyama" got no better with age. I'd say if there were other albums in the decade since "Thank You" I'd probably feel less disappointed. Every group has ups and downs so waiting a decade for this is a tangible disappointment for me.
This is is an album of halves. Half the songs are okay to pretty good and the other half not. The front half of the album is better than the back half. Half the album sounds somewhat contemporary the other half more throwback. Half the intensity as other albums. All of this leaves me confused where Puffy wants to go or what the heck the have been doing for a decade now.
Maybe the most noticeable thing in "The Puffy" is like their live performances in recent years. There is a less energy and fun. Puffy's show-womanship is something I always liked about them. Ami and Yumi are now well into their 40s and maybe high energy power pop is best left to younger acts. I'm still happy they remain a duo and are doing things. There was a heavy dose sentimentality as I chugged through "The Puffy" for this review. The feeling of wanting more of what they were and wanting something different nagged me through out this process.
There are no Puffy albums I hate, but "The Puffy" to me this is Ami and Yumi's weakest effort in a remarkably long jpop career. This might explain why it took me a year to write this review. These couple of passes are the the only time I have come back to the album and honestly other than "Pathfinder" and "Essafossa" which are on my jpop playlist I'm probably not returning to "The Puffy" any time soon.
Final Grades
-------------------------
Music: C-
Production: C
Performance: B-
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