CHAMELEON LIME WHOOPIEPIE

Whoopie is a Punkrocker feat. Stephen Harrison by CHAMELEON LIME WHOOPIEPIE

Single Review /

Released: 22.07.06 / Label: CLWP Records

Ok, I know I’ve been doing a lot of songs with Chi- lately, but she’s been incredibly busy! And, after that last one, I think I need to hear her back in her element.

We’ve covered a CHAMELEON LIME WHOOPIEPIE track recently and I loved it, Mad Doctor. You can read up on the band there if you’ve not heard about them before. Even more recently we caught the singer Chi- doing guest vocals on a track I didn’t like so much (link above). Now we get to hear CLWP bring a guest into their own track. Non other than the delightful Stephen Harrison. He’s an American guitarist who currently plays with the band Fever 333, and played previously with The Chariot. I don’t know a lot about him, but he looks incredibly badass and I’m excited to hear him play with this awesome group. Let’s get into it.

Well that was way harder than the punk rock sound I was expecting. This whole song is incredibly fun, and the amount of different sections they crammed in makes it feel way longer than it is. The guitar definitely changes the sound of the group for the better, it’s a playful band at heart so the over the top riffs fit in perfectly with the cute glitchy sounds and cheesy bass lines. And these riffs go hard. They pull the band along with them and I love where they end up. Talk about a great sound, I don’t know who did this mix, but it’s perfect in so many ways. The depth of the sounds is incredible and yet every part is perfectly audible throughout. The sound is also genre appropriate, which, given the number of genres they cycle through in this 2:22 song, is unbelievable.

I’m also really happy that they decided to go almost completely Japanese with the lyrics. I’ve had problems with the English in the past, and I feel a bit vindicated after hearing the quality we’re getting with the change here. The emotion behind the words is so clear and gives the song so much more power.

Perhaps most surprisingly of all, the only thing I could find wrong with this song is how short it is. I really hope they do a track together again. And we’ll probably be seeing CLWP again in the near future.

Verdict: Must listen (4.8/5)

★★★★★

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Munasawagi by NIKO NIKO TAN TAN

Single Review / ,

Released: 22.06.29 / Label: Self-released

So many capital letters with this track. NIKO NIKO TAN TAN is our main artist here, but you may recognize the name Chi- from the CHAMELEON LIME WHOOPIEPIE track we reviewed last month. I loved her stuff there so I am very excited to hear what she brings to the collab this time. I’m not as familiar with NIKO, so let’s learn a bit about them before we get to the track review.

NIKO NIKO TAN TAN is a four member “mixture unit” formed in 2019. Two members do the music while the other two do video. So they really are more of a creative unit and less of a traditional band. They’ve been busy putting out releases like crazy the past few years, so they’re quite active. And I’m hoping that means they’ve got some really developed work here. Because half the band is devoted to the video side of things, I feel like it might be best to actually embed the music video here for you to watch rather than just listening. So give that a watch after you check out the review!

Chaos is the name of the game with this group in an awesome and creative way, but it’s all just a little too fuzzy. Chi- is a perfect match for this style, and, despite the craziness of the video, she seems more restrained than in her own music. The song is fun and the composition is solid, though nothing to write home about. It works well as a jam song. The lyrics are, just like with the WHOOPIEPIE track, not that great. They’re playful and not to be taken seriously, but even so they could have been a lot better. The video has way more story than the song does, and that’s not saying much.

Speaking of video, clearly a lot of work went into the shoot and there are a lot of fun stylish scenes, but I don’t think it adds anything to the music. Which is disappointing when you consider half of the group is working on video. I expected the two halves to work together better than they did.

Overall a lack of polish in the audio mix, and a lack of quality control on the video means that I probably won’t listen (or watch) this again. Maybe the group just needs a bit more experience to work things out, maybe there was a time crunch, or maybe there was a lack of funding. Whatever the cause, there’s a lot of room to grow, and I think I’ll be waiting a year or two before checking back in.

Verdict: Take it or leave it (2.3/5)

★★★★★

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Mad Doctor by CHAMELEON LIME WHOOPIEPIE

Single Review / ,

Released: 22.05.25 / Label: CLWP Records

I’ve never heard this group before but just by looking at the cover I’m excited to hear what they’ve got.

This mouthful of a unit, CHAMELEON LIME WHOOPIEPIE (that last word is pronounced Whoopie Pie) is the solo project of leading orange-haired lady, and cover model, Chi. She’s backed by two “Whoopies” #1 and #2, who seem to be anonymous contributors. The three handle all the creative and production aspects of the music and videos, making this a truly unique indie project to be sure. Then seem almost like a Japanese version of Superorganism, but on a smaller scale. This is the title track and lead single for their second EP, and it is delightful.

The music is as crazy as you’d imagine from the cutout-style artwork featured on the cover, tons of different samples and percussive vocals create an elaborate musical tapestry for what is essentially a simple J-Pop tune. The vocal work is upbeat and infectious, and while it has a lot of repeated sections, it manages to stay interesting through some creative and masterful arranging thanks to one (or maybe both?) of the Whoopies. It also sounds great, the recording, mixing, and mastering are really well done. Given the chaotic nature of the song that’s quite an accomplishment. Good work Whoopies.

The visual side of things is also really well developed. Looking back at their previous releases, and skimming through the long list of videos on their YouTube page, it’s clear that the group has crafted a strong aesthetic that perfectly matches the music. It’s so well put together that the crazy world they create ends up feeling completely natural.

The only area that suffers at all is the lyrics. While they’re catchy, they don’t really seem to have any real meaning. They do mention the Mad Doctor coming, so there may be some element of album-wide storytelling I’m missing here. I don’t think this is a concept EP, so I’m betting they just went with something crazy and catchy. Not a bad choice, but compared to the music and visual language they’re using it just feels less developed.

Verdict: Worth your time (3.8/5)

★★★★★

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