doombox 4421 Posted June 9, 2015 Artist: BRADIO Album: POWER OF LIFE 1. Are You Ready to Blast Off? 2. Flyers 3. 真っ赤なカーチェイス (MAKKANA CAR CHASE) 4. Sunday feat.MICRO(from HOME MADE 家族) 5. Chocolate Flavor 6. Flash Light Baby 7. オトナHIT PARADE (OTONA HIT PARADE) 8. シークレットコード (Secret Code) 9. スパイシー・マドンナ (Spicy Madonna) 10. 腰振る夜は君のせい (koshifuru yoruha kimi no sei) 11. You Make Me Feel Brand New 12. Ride On Time feat.谷川正憲(from UNCHAIN) Rating: | Disco is not dead! BRADIO is a relatively young indie rock band that blends large doses of throwback funk with addictive and catchy pop melodies. While they formed in 2010, the member shuffle kept them bound to releasing solely demo material until they took off like a rocket 2 years later with their first mini album. Fast-forward to 2015: BRADIO are headlining tours, releasing their first full length album, and gracing an anime series with their music as the opening theme for Death Parade. It's been a big year and it's barely half way over! The album opens with a single question posed to its listeners, "Are You Ready to Blast Off?" That answer is a resounding "YES!" as this song breaks into a high octane dance party that will make it impossible to sit still. The mood is set with a fun chorus and dramatic "oooh-aaah" backing vocals that lift the track up until a funky bass solo takes the song, as promised, right into outer space. The equally cheesy yet infectious "Flash Light Baby" and "OTONA HIT PARADE" keep the overall feel of the album in this realm, as they sit back to back in the middle of the track list. The lack of ballads on POWER OF LIFE is somewhat surprising. Only the song "You Make Me Feel Brand New" slows down enough to give anyone a chance to catch their breath. However, the song still maintains a level of energy that comes much closer to 'power ballad' territory. Not only does it serve as a change of pace with tempo but it also spotlights a fabulous female vocal harmony just shy of making this song a duet Musically, BRADIO doesn't do anything that reinvents the wheel for their genre, but they keep their music consistently well composed across the board with a level of quality and attention to detail. The band may not create an image of taking themselves seriously (It's all about having fun!), but you can tell that stops in the studio where the production is remarkable. The range of instruments used must have kept a long list of session musicians in and out of their recording booth even though the band's main line up only consists of 4 official members. A sassy horn section really helps songs like "Flyers" and "Spicy Madonna" stand apart from the others with enough swag that even Kool and the Gang would be proud. If you don't know who that is, let me google that for you. Breathing life back into disco may sound like quite a formidable task, but BRADIO have found the right mix to make it look easy. And they're bringing their friends along for the ride, both MICRO (from HOME MADE KAZOKU) and Masanori Tanigawa (UNCHAIN) have wonderful features on this album. They each lend their special flavors into two of the most uplifting tracks "Sunday" and "Ride On Time", magnifying the positive sentiment the album carries. BRADIO strive to raise their listener up in every way with POWER OF LIFE, if the title didn't already give that away. My only complaint is there aren't enough low or quiet moments to give this album as dynamic a sound as it could have. A bit of shadow to make the big songs shine even brighter would really push it to the next level. There are a huge chunk of mid-tempo numbers on the album that, while enjoyable, don't sink their teeth too deeply into the different emotions they grasp at and some of them can blend a little too seamlessly into each other. But since they all keep the party rockin' it's hard for me to be mad about it. It really is a simply fantastic soundtrack to boogie away your problems. Support the band! POWER OF LIFE on US iTunes POWER OF LIFE @ CDJapan POWER OF LIFE @ HMV 6 Tetora, Jigsaw9, CAT5 and 3 others reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CAT5 9075 Posted June 16, 2015 Didn't you play this group on plug before? I can't say that I'm sold from the song in the video (dude's singing is pretty hilarious and almost parody-like at times), but having read your review and watched the video, I don't think band takes themselves too seriously. The emphasis seems to be on just having a good time, and that's what they seem to be doing. Also cool to see UNCHAIN's vocalist was featured on a track. This music is definitely up his alley and I could see both bands performing together. 1 doombox reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jigsaw9 6783 Posted June 16, 2015 This sounds pretty cool, I might check out the album. I'm completely for these funky disco influences~ 1 doombox reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doombox 4421 Posted June 16, 2015 Didn't you play this group on plug before? I can't say that I'm sold from the song in the video (dude's singing is pretty hilarious and almost parody-like at times), but having read your review and watched the video, I don't think band takes themselves too seriously. The emphasis seems to be on just having a good time, and that's what they seem to be doing. Also cool to see UNCHAIN's vocalist was featured on a track. This music is definitely up his alley and I could see both bands performing together. I absolutely played them before. Probably multiple times... I've heard the cookie monster kind of gutteral singing he does by other vocalists, so I guess it's a thing but I don't think its so common for this genre hehe. It does give it a comical feel, but for me it works because of the vibe. This band is definitely all about having a good time, their level of ridiculousness is one of my favorite things lol. This sounds pretty cool, I might check out the album. I'm completely for these funky disco influences~ It's a good time, I highly recommend you get on that. ;D Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fictioninhope 355 Posted June 17, 2015 I super enjoyed that video and have a mighty need for more. I loved listening to mom's old disco albums growing up and this just gave me so many happy childhood feels only with a modern twist and better sound quality. Gotta get these guys in my itunes library pronto! D; 1 doombox reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doombox 4421 Posted June 17, 2015 Yes! The basically strike the same nostalgia chord for me, so I think you'll love them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jigsaw9 6783 Posted June 17, 2015 I've now listened to the album... it was a lot poppier than I expected (in a sugary way), and most of the tunes didn't strike me as memorable sadly. Basically the song you linked the video for was the best imo. There were some cool bits here and there tho, so it wasn't all that bad. Won't make it into my year-end list but it was okay for experiencing once and trying out something new. 1 radioradioradio reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
