9/20/2023 0 Comments Kero kero bonito civilization ii![]() Producers/loveable nerd-boys Gus Lobban and Jamie Bulled have done themselves proud throughout this EP, getting the best out of each arrangement with ever-inventive shifts of texture and laying down synth tones that will doubtless be a dream come true for returning fans of their chiptune proclivities. Opener-single-fairytale “The Princess and the Clock” is an appropriate orientation, starting out familiarly enough with quaint Animal Crossing-esque melodies and Sarah Midori Perry’s best daydream voice, before exploding into a technicolour synth flurry that borders on not-chill but is vintage enough in its tones and inflections to land in endearing territory. ![]() Presumably benefitting from an extensive Covid-endorsed delay, Civilisation II is the more substantial and overall impressive release of the two, showcasing stronger hooks, more versatile songwriting and a delicious enthusiasm for synth pyrotechnics. Similar to 2019’s Civilisation I, this EP shows the band exploring synth pop with their most fluid arrangements and ambitious songwriting to date. Let’s talk more about Civilisation II because 1) that is the name of this release, 2) it is a new release, and 3) the three songs on it are very, very good. The Kero Kero Bonito aesthetic is still quintessential chill, but let no-one say they haven’t taken it places. ![]() If you feel like geeking out, you could call it an upward trajectory none of them exactly demand an attention span, but they certainly show off increasing increments of thoughtfulness. Take the shifting attitudes towards ennui between the whatever-frolic “Break”, the uneasy portrait of solitary depression “Time Today” and this EP’s lockdown portrait of society in stasis “21/04/20”: there’s a coherent development there if ever I’ve heard one. Just look at their conveniently short list of titles: debut Bonito Generation was a caption album, sardonic and willfully shallow in its instant gratification follow-up Time ‘n’ Place graduated into emotional snapshots, dressed in choppy indie rock because it had enough substance to withstand a little artsy fracture and now, with the Civilisation EPs, they turn their hand to sweeping allegories and alternate realities, backlit with enough confidence to cast long shadows either side of the right-here, right-now. This may seem sporadic, but it’s been underpinned by clear, demonstrable, linear growth in their subject matter. Good for them! This hasn’t stopped them from remodelling their sound at every turn, so much so that each of their works feels like a departure more than a coherent evolution. Their deadpan is chill, their bangers are chill, their frankness is chill, the bulk of their detractors do not come off as chill and are therefore unfit for comment, and, conversely, people will assume you are chill for enjoying them no matter how much wider anxiety or inadequacy you may be directly addressing by specific means of deadpan, frank, chill bangers. ![]() Kero Kero Bonito are chill and I’m jealous. It's a humanist manifesto for the Anthropocene in several parts incorporating chants, an insistent four-to-the-floor and field recordings of natural sites.Ll. "Well Rested" (future), our longest track yet at over seven minutes, addresses The Resurrection and humanity's distant future. Its direct, documentary style was inspired by narrative art like the Bayeux Tapestry and Trajan's Column. "21/04/20" (present) recounts a typical day in the early Covid lockdown in Bromley (South London), complete with a late leftover pasta breakfast, enthusiastic joggers and friendship conducted over video call. ![]() It tells the story of a young explorer who was kidnapped and revered as a princess by an isolated society her worshippers later found her gone, but it's up to the listener to guess her fate. "The Princess and the Clock" (past) is a legend of our own invention, designed to feel like a familiar folk tale. Here's the band with more:Įach of Civilisation II's three tracks are set in the past, present and future respectively. (And you thought they forgot!) After a couple records that had the group playing more traditional rock band instruments, we're fully back into synth-n-laptops land and these three shiny, bright and danceable tracks are all pretty great. Kero Kero Bonito have released a new EP, Civilisation II, which is the two-years-in-the-making follow-up to 2019's Civilization I. ![]()
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