Stand out track: #5
Fold out sleeve has silver drops on it we're supposed to scrape off. I can't bring myself to do it even though it might help the art. This is the most visually uninspired of the albums. Unlike the others this one doesn't have dioramas or cartoons, or even photos of the band. It does have:
Liner Notes -- from the web, actual liner notes (in English) are slightly different.
For a new generation of Japanese musicians the old adage of imitation over originality or style over content burst long ago along with the bubble. Super Butter Dog confident in their own ability to create something new, have come up with a truly potent musical force. Theirs is a music that somehow could only be born and bred in Japan, that reflects their own unique and eclectic influences both homegrown and from abroad. Super Butter Dog grew out of an idea by school friends, vocalist/guitarist Takashi Nagazumi and guitarist Tomoyasu Takeuchi, who found they shared a common love of American funk bands such as Funkadelic, Parliament and Sly and the Family Stone. While the sounds of funk acted as a catalyst, this is only part of the equation.
Inspired by the likes of Carole King, Rikki Lee Jones, even Julie London and Japanese folk artists such as Yosui Inoue, Nagazumi's real strength lies in creating memorable melodies and hooklines. It's this combination of a folk sensibility mixed with dynamic rhythms plus rock and r'n'b guitar riffs that makes the sum far greater than the parts, and lies at the heart of the Super Butter Dog sound.
Undeniably cool and hip on the one hand, melodic and tuneful on the other. Capable of setting the dancefloors alight, but equally comfortable enough for any radio station programmer. Reflecting the group's open minds and lack of preconceptions, their music doesn't fit easily into any category. Nagazumi likens pigeonholing his group to always eating the same dish; instead he's constantly adding new ingredients to keep the taste fresh and to excite the palette. Super Butter Dog's music seems to come from all eras and yet none specifically. Paradoxically it's very much a soundtrack to the times, when the best music created is by those who trample down boundaries to paint the musical landscape with new colors. Nagazumi's soulful yet earthy vocals and Takeuchi's funky yet rockin' guitar hooks are further augmented by Takafumi Ikeda's freewheeling, fluid keyboards and Tomohiko Arimoto's punchy basslines, while drummer and programmer Shuichi Sawada keeps the rhythm tight.
'Hello! Feed Back', is Super Butter Dog's third major album, and their best yet. The band are locked into a relentless groove, both hypnotic and kinetic, the songs have never been stronger and the music pours forth with consummate ease. Super Butter Dog are of the generation in Japan whose ears were opened by the establishment of the foreign major record stores.
Ironically, it's the record stores need to categorize for the consumer's sake, that all musical artists have to be put into any genre at all. Far better, and easier if there were just two categories, 'good' and 'bad'. Super Butter Dog would be firmly placed in the 'good'.
Paul Fisher, November, 1999
November 26 1999