So, what we learn from this new TsuShiMaMiRe album is that… these girls obviously get pretty wild when they drink! I am guessing this because the theme of Sake Mamire, the trio’s latest release is alcohol and it is probably their rawest, craziest release to date. There was always a punk edge to their music which was at the forefront in some of their songs, while totally suppressed in others, but it was never ever as prominent as here!

The band’s latest full-length, NEW was released back in 2017 and since then, besides compilations, live albums and such, they only released two EPs, and both Night And Morning (2018) and Lucky (2020) were on the light-hearted side. Here however they let it all loose and go wild, already starting with the very first song, Beer. Which is well, about beer. And they go on with this one drink / song thing and the album is basically a Wold Tour Of Alcohol which, besides beer, goes through whiskey, wine, shots, vodka, tequila and, as expected: sake! Of course all this wildness is mixed with the band’s trademark naive cute sound and the result is a crazy mixture, that even adds some Japanese traditional elements here and there, so at times we feel as if we are stuck in the middle of a matsuri, surrounded by a bunch of drunk Japanese girls. Shot You is one of the standouts with Mari’s rapid fire singing and some really trippy guitars, followed by the bass driven Give Me Whiskey and the utterly weird Sake featuring whispered vocals and some extremely groovy drumming. The short and crazy Vodka War is another favorite, but actually each and every song has something special, something that sets them apart from the rest and, so the album never gets repetitive and is full of surprises… like the carnival feel of Ole! Tequila or the very heavy bass line in the otherwise calmer I Am A Wine. After a short skit, Sake Mamire closes with a fun, sing-along cover song, originally by Baracooder (a comedy music duo that was active in the ’70s / ’80s) which sounds as if it was recorded in a pub and it is a perfect and fitting way to wrap up this extremely fun little album.

“Little”, as it is not a long album by any means, it barely passes the 25 minutes mark, but then what did you expect from such a punkish release?! And it isn’t just their most punk release to date, it is also one of the most fun ones and definitely their best since 2015’s Abandon Human, which was a personal favorite of mine, but this came in as a close second. Highly recommended!

Sake Mamire
2021.11.17 / cd, digital
01.Beer
02.SHOT YOU
03.Give me Whiskey
04.SAKE
05.Vodka War
06.Ole! Tequila
07.I am a Wine
08.Kanpai MAMIRE (Just Voice)
09.Nippon Zenkoku Sakenomi Ondo (Cover Song of Baracooder)

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A year in reviews: in 2021 I was somewhat neglecting the site due to the lack of free time, but now I try to make up for it as much as possible, reviewing several important / good / interesting albums that were released this year. One for each day throughout December, from a very wide spectrum of genres. #2021reviews