Let’s set the scene: It was a cloudy day at the start of October. I had just arrived in Siena, Italy, where I was to study for a semester. I go out to scout for bars, sidewalk surfing, vibing to The Queers, and once the album ends, I’m greeted by the unfarmiliar sound of The Selectionz’ opening track, Dream of Ice Cream.
What a bop to open with! At first I thought “oh this bass line sounds promising”, but my ear was captivated once the vocals came in. The female singer delivers a verse melody so jumpy I had to do a double take. It never once went where I expected it to, and it was all the more catchy for it! The vocalist’s innocent, almost child-like delivery was also perfect for it, it was clear that the band knew what they were doing and what their strengths were. The chorus was infectious and the guitar solo at the end felt like sprinkles on an ice cream cone. I played it once more from the start and then excitedly moved on to the rest of the 10-track, 20-minute album, the band’s only release.
At this point I was still unsure which country to attribute The Selectionz to. Considering I couldn’t make out most of the lyrics, they definitely weren’t native English speakers, and I was torn between Japan and Latin America. As the tracks went on though, I quickly started leaning towards Japan, which ended up being correct.
The sound of The Selectionz, admired by a mere 20 monthly listeners on Spotify, can probably best be described as summer powerpop punk with a fair bit of Japanese flair. Hi-Standard were an obvious influence on the guitar work on almost every song, alongside the fact virtually any track could’ve been an 80’s anime opening, and I mean that in the best way possible. It’s feel-good. It’s major. It’s summer in an album. And considering it seems to have been released on the 12th of September, I’m sure it was written and recorded in the summer too.
It was clear by the second track, Contrary Girl, that the broken up melodies are here to stay, alongside the ‘teenager going out for ice cream on a summer day’ vibe. We also hear the first of a hammond organ on this one. Nice. With You Under the Stars Tonight opens with the first guitar bit which I could easily attribute to Ken Yokoyama of Hi-Standard, a common denominator of most of the tracks, the chorus of A Key With Magic Ribbon is a masterpiece, and the guitar thirds in the post-chorus are wonderfully Queers-ish.
Sadly, the originality of the first couple of tracks seems to fall off in the second half of the record. Starting with Marble Chocolate, the songs lose some of their individuality and become a bit repetitive. None of them are bad on their own, they’re just not as good as the first half. Other than them being from Japan, I wasn’t able to find any more info on The Selectionz. They seem to have vanished – as is custom with the bands we deal with – just as quickly and silently as they appeared, though not without leaving some decent noise behind.
Over all, the album is absolutely worth a spin. It’s inspired and refreshing, if not of equal quality all the way through, and one I keep coming back to. A verdict of 7.5/10 doesn’t go amiss as tracks 1-5 deserve an 8 and tracks 6-10 come in at a 7. Give it a spin!
– Tom E. Gin
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