1. ムーンソング
2. Kaiju
3. Girl A
4. Claw
5. O2
6. Feel like
7. Aoyama
8. Nawe, Nawe
9. Buzz Off!
10. クソッタレな貴様らへ
11. Swan
12. I want u to love me
13. 今まで君が泣いた分取り戻そう
14. NEW WALL
15. [Secret track]
Japanese indie band turned mainstream success, [Alexandros] has come back again with their seventh album "EXIST!". This would be the second album under this band name as the guys used to go under the name [Champagne] but had to change their name because of a legal dispute with another artist who shared the name. The name change caused me to lose sight of these guys because I was a huge fan back in the day then suddenly they fell of the radar.... not really because their name just changed. One day, I was looking at the monthly Oricon Chart ranking to see who sold well and I see this band was still making music. At the time, they were promoting the single "Swan" and I flipped out because they had release a whole full length album before then called "ALXD". So I made it my duty to catch up on the music I missed and gosh I needed their music back in my life.
I kept up with the promotional singles for this album because I subscribed to the youtube channel of the record label that their on. My first thoughts were that this album wasn't going to be as good as "ALXD" because not one of the singles were anywhere near as catchy as "ワタリドリ" but the songs are still good in their own right. [Alexandros] have always stood alone in their craft for the creation of their music. That was the thing that got me interested in their music. Their music can be down right weird and wacky but very relatable at the same time. Kind of like those bands from the UK who just don't give a fuck about anything as long as their feeling are represented in their music and it resonates with people. This is a quality that these guys show in each and everyone of their albums. "EXIST!" and the album before this one are [Alexandros] packaged for the mainstream so some tracks have to be about topics that Japanese people find interesting like love and perseverance. The album takes this idea and uses it well for a few songs but you can't take the wacky out of this band no matter how hard a major label might try. "Buzz Off" got my head in a spin(in a good way.) as the track starts then flies out of control with it's fast lyrics. "Kaiju" was that track that let me know that this album was going to be good with its mixtures of piano and drums in the beginning then switches the electric rifts to jump start the track. The song is a good shout song when you need music to pump you up. I noticed that the styles takes many different elements and brings them together. [Alexandros] was once in the more indie scene so they have fans that are use to that kind of style from them. They now also have fans who have recently started listening to them because their music is more mainstream. Because of this fact, there seems to be tracks on "EXIST" for their new and old fan's tastes. We have pop electrical rock here, some hard rock here, and some acoustic rock here. The biggest trait this album has over the last one was that the tracks are seeming more catchy than out of control and all over the place. I do think its because they have become more popular but at least they make sure to still go crazy on some tracks too. When these boys go crazy.... THEY HAVE NO FILTER! Them having no filter makes my filter break into a million pieces too. The lyrics for their songs are straight forward with not sugar coating but thats how life is. They should be able to express how they feel because it's their truth. I remember one of the lyrics, "Your crying like hell but I really don't give a shit!". I laughed so hard when I heard these lyrics. I had to replay the song again just to make sure I heard right. "Swan" is a new change of style for them because they add autotune for a little of the beginning but it works for me. The decision was more of an artistic choice that muddled out what was to come in the song. The track as an overall product is so good and I love the calm but energized vibe it has. "Feel Like" could be one of the weaker of the singles but its a catchy jam once you just sit and listen to it. The build up on the lyrics "Feel Like" are cute and I think girls would love a track like this. Simple and to the point. Tracks like "NEW WALL" and "I want you to love me" are two of my favorites. They have this upbeat fast sound and the chorus are so catchy that anyone can sing along.
Most of the members of [Alexandros] speak English to a certain extent of fluency. This fact is very apparent in their music. I've only heard a few songs from them that have only Japanese lyrics in them but they mostly perform songs in both languages. Another reason I took notice of them right away. Japan loves English and I mean LOVES English. It doesn't matter to them if they can understand the language or not. Japanese people just love hearing english and seeing english. Thats why you might notice that products in Japan have english one them. It might not be correct English but English it on certain products. Pop superstar Amuro Namie also did her last album all in English except for a few lyrics. [Alexandros] mixes both languages together by sometimes starting the song off in english then switching to Japanese or switching back and forth. The transition isn't messy so it works well but I do wonder what the Japanese people who don't understand english hear.... I guess they just think its cool that a Japanese person can speak english. Frontman Kawakami Yoohei's vocals are a very unique asset to the band. He has a very high range that sound beautiful when used in the right context. His voice can also get on my nerves only because he sounds whiny sometimes. Depending on the melody of the song, his vocal dynamics bring out to lyric's message ten fold. He has a lower register too that sounds good for the times that he's not in his high range or he's rapping/ talking in a song. Those little spoken words he does in songs are so different and cool too.
My cons for this album was the same as my cons for a lot of their albums. I don't like every song because some are too wild sounding for me. I will say that this album had more tracks that I loved compared to tracks I didn't like. They also continue to grow as musicians with every new release.
"EXIST!" and their previous albums are music that I would recommend to fans of Japanese rock. I'm so proud that their really popular now in Japan but they haven't let that popularity completely defined their music for them. While I believe the popularity has influenced their sound, They don't sound like sell outs yet. I hope they continue to fight the system and make music that pleases the masses and has substance.
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