児童カルテ – 神聖かまってちゃん (Shinsei Kamattechan)

As the teenage suicide rate continues to rise in Japan, Shinsei Kamattechan base their new album around this large, unsolvable societal problem. Vocalist Noko turns their own experiences of bullying and isolation into music as this album explores themes of burning out, depression, suicide, and vulnerability. Despite the dark themes, however, the songs are often contrasted by bright synths and undeniable pop structures. The vocals are pitched up so there’s a sense of cheeriness among the songs. Much of the album feels hazy and blurry at times, playing into our feelings of reminiscing about the past and nostalgia.

Over the past decade in their career, Shinsei Kamattechan has become known for its genre-defying sounds that play into noise pop, hip hop, J-Rock, alternative, and more. On 児童カルテ, they bring their versatility back in full force to represent the manic balance between the sugary hooks and relentless barrage of noise. The thematic elements of the album are always emphasized despite the largely cheerful tone and on tracks like “静かなあの子”, the upbeat chanting and gliding piano underscore a much darker tone. “Girl2” is similar with a danceable beat that seems to hold something sinister behind the chanting before dissolving into a rapping section and a haunting vocal passage. The artwork fits perfectly as it represents the core theme of the album: crumbling under the facade of being ok. It’s a powerful and poignant statement: one that embodies the terrifying feeling of depression wearing you down.

For the most part, 児童カルテ manages to be concise with its statements and is executed well. In particular, the creativity behind the sounds of cheery nostalgia being underscored by the terrifying undertones of the lyrics and occasional frantic screams is a testament to how well Shinsei Kamattechan understand pop sensibilities. While the mixing can be a little strange in distorting the vocals, it creates an uneasy feeling and the dark lyrics become a lot more haunting in that context. There are times when the album is too chaotic for its own good and despite its intention to represent the feeling of crumbling away, some elements become too obscured by the messiness and don’t always come through fully as a result. Unlike their earlier noise-pop work on albums like Tsumanne, the chaotic moments of noise rock don’t feel as natural and some of the songs on the album never reach their full potential as a result. Still, this continuation of the unique, unhinged sound that Shinsei Kamattechan has carved out for themselves remains engaging and with the bassist Chibagin leaving the band, it’ll be interesting to see where they go next.

Must Listens: Girl2, 静かなあの子, るるちゃんの自殺配信

75/100

About the Author

Jeff

I turned my incoherent ramblings on music, anime, and video games into an entire blog.

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