[Band Battle] cinema staff vs. arukara (アルカラ)

[CAT5 9075]

cinema staff

 

VS.

 

arukara (アルカラ)

 

 

Ok, the battle is on! 2 former indie favorites from the same era! Which band do you think is better AND WHY?

[greeeeen 49]

Oooh, Wes. You made it a bit difficult when you had Ling and 9mm head to head, but when it comes to cinema staff vs アルカラ the verdict is pretty much obvious: the latter.

 

Don't get me wrong; I once liked cinema staff - and very much at that - and for some personal reasons I always got a little bit too emotional when listening to 水平線は夜動く. The feelings ceased after a while, though.. I mean, what happened? I don't even think they could go back to Blue, Under the Imagination era, and don't even get me started on Great Escape. (ﾉಥДಥ)ﾉ︵┻━┻･/

アルカラ, on the other hand, have always been more consistent with their releases... sure, むにむにの樹 was a letdown, but they have such catchy tunes that no one can resist, they seem like so much fun on stage and they're capable of executing the slower songs right (which I believe was what got me into them in the first place. 散らかった部屋とわたし, 扉の前にて and 夕暮れちゃちゃちゃ are like beautiful distractions from which I'll never recover... heh). They're very entertaining, very moving, and they've yet to disappoint me.

[CAT5 9075]

^ wuttttttttttttt!!!??? You don't like 'Great Escape'!!!???

 

 

Personally, this is a really tough decision for me! Iirc, I discovered both bands around the same time (late 2008 i believe), so they were both among bands that I considered "new-age indie heroes"; following in the footsteps of 9mm and Rin toshite who were both major by then.

 

As far as consistency, i'd rank both bands about the same - neither has been constantly great, as they both have material that I shy away from. So in order for me to make a decision, I viewed my "favorites" playlist on foobar, and I have more arukara songs than cinema staff, so i'm gonna go with arukara. This probably isn't completely accurate, though...especially since I know I need to add some cinema staff songs that I haven't yet...

 

So yeah, arukara will get my vote by a hair. I will say that arukara has more memorable/catchy tunes, though. Both bands are very talented, though!

 

 

they seem like so much fun on stage

 

I dunno...If you've seen a good amount of cinema staff PVs and live footage, they're also very energetic and entertaining to watch!

 

 

[saishuu 3220]

I really like both and listen to them pretty regularly, but my vote goes to cinema staff. I've been following them for longer and their stuff resonates with me much more. It's also important to mention that they have something unbelievably good in form of the 水平線は夜動く single in their disco, which makes my choice much easier. Arukara, for me, is one of those bands I enjoy listening the hell out of, but never give enough attention to truly dive into their discography. But hey, BOY NEXT DOOR is still one of my favorite albums.

[orangetarts 249]

I really like both!

 

I learned of cinema staff from SNK (like a lot of the world probably did lol)

and I really like sound that they have

 

but I really prefer Arukara's...eccentricity (IS THAT A WORD EVEN) and i feel like they have a lot more feeling in their songs.

IDK HOW TO TALK ABOUT MUSIC.

[Tokage 5930]

Cinema Staff have now been featured on SnK, so obviously I can't like them anymore because I don't want to have anything do do with SnK-related things.

 

 

Haha, nah, that isn't true. Still, truth is, I DO prefer アルカラ over them. While both bands definitely sound enjoyable and both are really good at what they do, I think arukara have slightly more variation in their style. Most things I've heard by cinema staff (admittedly, not THAT much, but enough to form an opinion on them) end up sort of melting together and sounding near-identical to me after a while, while for arukara that isn't the case. They'll usually come up with some unexpected twist that manages to catch my attention when I notice it's slipping.

[digi 192]

Arukara gets my vote. Not that Cinema Staff isn't good or anything. I quite like them as well. 

Arukara usually gets my attention right away, though. As I feel there's more...emotion in their songs.

Either way, both bands are still awesome~

[CAT5 9075]

Arukara is definitely more overtly melodic...which seems to work in their favor!

[Original Saku 1593]

This is a pretty easy decision for me. it definitely goes to Arukara IMO. Not to say that Cinema staff is bad because they are in no way not good. actually it's exactly the opposite, they are very enjoyable but when I start to really think about which band I consider to be my favorite out of the two I have to say without a doubt it's arukara. It's just that they have more memorable songs in the long run at least to me that is, also I own two of their albums so that definitely is a factor in my decision Not to mention I believe arukara has a whole lot more material than cinema staff does which i realize that more does not always equal better but in this case I can say that it definitely does. 

[TheStoic 176]

I personally love Cinema Staff more.  Their vocalist has a very recognizable voice that I love.  The melodies always seem to give me a very emotional feeling and at one time I was stuck ina month long addiction to their discography that still resonates with me.  Hearing songs like Gate and 君になりたい [Kimi ni Naritai/I Want to be You] always give me a rush of comforting nostalgia that I can't shake.

 

Arukara has a playful and eccentric spirit that doesn't allow me to connect with the music like CInema Staff does.  The music is good, but it does not hold the power that EPs like Blue, Under the Imagination held for me.

[doaseternity6 93]

I like them both a lot and they have similar trajectories in my mind (similar to CAT's) so it is tough... but what gives the edge (although unfairly) is I have seen Cinema Staff live twice and haven't seen Arukara yet. CS were totally on point and just the right amount of swinging from lighting fixtures antics to please me.