On both their official website and their official MySpace page, Winnie list the American band Jimmy Eat World as a major influence, and it shows. The two bands do sound similar, with Winnie softening up the already light emo-rock vibe even more. This softer side is due mostly to the gentle vocal delivery of dual singers Iori (female) and Okuji (male). In fact, Iori sings very much in the style of Brilliant Green and Tommy Heavenly6/Tommy February6 vocalist Tomoko Kawase. Both Iori and Okuji sing and play guitar, alternating between male and female leads. This is off-set by the large, dual-guitar driven style of the music. While it never gets very heavy or fast, Winnie does pack a punch.
Formed in 2002, the band has released three mini albums in the past six years, two of them after a five year pause. 2003's First Class Speed of Light is a very soft spoken affair, full of fuzzed-out dreamy pop rock with shimmering edges. 2008's The Darkest Eternal Lights picks up the pace with much louder production and harder hitting songs. They still remain firmly in soft rock territory, but bring a heavier arsenal to the table. 2009's Headquarter is much the same, with the production once again adding a very heavy punch to the otherwise soft songs.
While Winnie seems to be aiming directly for the middle-of-the-road demographic with their slightly "edgy" sound tempered greatly by their down-tempo vibe, it would be great to hear them let loose even more. Tracks like "Suck My Brain" show that they have a lot of energy burbling underneath their blurry outer shell, and that they can really rock out when they want to. On the other hand, they do manage to walk that fine line very well, reaching out to both the softer set and those who need a little more bang for their buck.
Starlike Stereo
Official Site
MySpace
Members:
Iori - Vocals, Guitar
Okuji - Vocals, Guitar
Shoji - Drums
Akira Abe & Naoto Komatsu - Bass (support)
Releases:
Headquarter 2009
The Darkest Eternal Lights 2008
First Class Speed of Light 2003
First Class Speed of Light
2 comments:
I like this! Just plain good pop rock. :3 Although the "8D" faces got a little freaky after a while.. O_o;;
BTW, a lot of the links on your blog pages are broken. You might want to attend to that... ^^;
Broken links?? Could you point them out? Thanks.
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