夏: SCANDAL - TEMPTATION BOX

Temptation Box, SCANDAL's 2nd full-length album to date, was released just last week on 11/8 and needless to say after a week of listening to it I had to do a review.

In case you didn't know, SCANDAL are a 4-girl pop/rock band from Osaka, formed in 2006. They debuted in 2008 under indie label Kitty Records, went on a US tour, played at anime conventions in France and Hong Kong, before getting a major debut under Epic Records. They released their debut album "BEST SCANDAL" in 2009.

SCANDAL are Haruna (guitar), Tomomi (bass), Mami (guitar) and Rina (drums).

At first listen it doesn't impress as much as their first album, "Best Scandal". I would say this album leans a bit too much to the pop-ish side compared to what I was used to, but then again "Best Scandal" was all out rock. I'd say its a more balanced album that may appeal to the mainstream pop listeners - many of the new songs are definitely radio material.

Tracklist:

1) EVERYBODY SAY YEAH
2) Taiyou to Kimi ga Egaku STORY
3) Shunkan Sentimental
4) Houkago 1H
5) Namida no Regret
6) Hi-Hi-Hi
7) Shoujo M
8) GIRLism
9) Playboy Part II
10) Hello! Hello!
11) Aitai
12) Sayonara My Friend

Notable tracks (as usual, I'll intro the newer songs):
Note: All links are provided to give you a preview, please refrain from downloading and buy the album instead

1) EVERYBODY SAY YEAH
I liked this song the first time I listened to it. It makes for a perfect opening song with its upbeat techno-rock feel, and the chorus is downright addictive. Its quite obvious that they wrote this song for live performances - its hard to not bounce along to the beat and scream "yeah!" every time the chorus comes along. The bass octaves and the guitar wahs interspersed throughout the song contribute to the overall "hell yeah lets dance!" feel. Definitely the best song on the album.

5) Namida no Regret
Its their latest single before the album was released, and probably their saddest song so far. The song itself is simple, straightforward and impactful, with the strings thrown in for the ballad-ish effect. Rather, its Haruna's vocals that shine on this track, expressing the poignant emotions directed by the lyrics, which tells of breakups and moving on. Its no coincidence that the title is translated as "Tears of Regret". The ending "lalala" part may be slightly cheesy to some, but it ends the song pretty well.

6) Hi-Hi-Hi
I'd like to imagine the girls were high on Red Bull and caffeine when they were composing this song. This is probably one of their more technically challenging songs, and I'm not just referring to the instruments - if they sang any faster during the verses I think they'd bite their tongues. Strange title, random "Hi Hi Hi"s and the overusage of synth aside, its one of those in-your-face rock out songs. Heck, Tomomi even does a mean slap bass solo midway through after Mami's done with hers \m/

9) Playboy Part II
Unlike the original Playboy, Part II discards the synth and techno-esque feel (thankfully) and goes back to old-school rock. And when I mean old-school, I really mean it. The verses sound as if they came out of retro Chinese (more likely Japanese, for them) records with the upbeat (as opposed to downbeat) guitar riffs and the super old-school basslines. Luckily, it also retains the catchy-ness of the original. I love this song just because of its retro-ness.

11) Aitai
Another straightforward and simple song. Like Namida no Regret, Aitai also brings out the best in Haruna's singing. The title "Aitai" means "I want to meet you" and you can really feel that in her voice. The vocals do get a bit overwhelmed by the instruments during the verses though, but as the song goes into the chorus the rest of the band chimes in to support. Its songs like these that make you wonder if the girls are moving towards a softer sound in their songs, and I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way. This is definitely one of their more mature works.

And now the rest of the tracks:

2) Taiyou to Kimi ga Egaku STORY
This single was released sometime in June which explains the summer-feel to the whole song. Very cheerful and upbeat, and if you've watched the PV you'd agree with me. Its that sort of feel good song that brings a smile to your face.

3) Shunkan Sentimental
This was probably the single that propelled them to their current popularity (after Shoujo S), which was chosen as the ending song for the crazily popular FullMetal Alchemist. The song oozes power rock from start to end, and probably ranks among one of their most kickass rock songs.

4) Houkago 1H
Tomomi does the singing on this track, and while her high pitched vocals matches nicely with Haruna's lower and huskier singing on other songs, I don't think its suited for a full song, especially not when she piles on the extra kawaii by emulating Hirasawa Yui from K-ON! Still, its bearable and if you look past the squeaky vocals its actually a pretty cute song with cute lyrics.

7) Shoujo M
I thought it'll be a sequel to "Shoujo S", but apparently the "M" stands for Mami, who does the vocals in this track. A rather average track, with Mami's unique voice given a leading role (she usually does harmonies). Too much synth if you ask me (sounds like those robot catching machines), but definitely a catchy song (pun intended) with a nice chorus.

8) GIRLism
This song reminds me of another song by MICA 3 CHU - "I Don't Know". Like "I Don't Know", GIRLism sounds pretty much like a badass girl-power punk song. Definitely headbanging stuff, if not for the questionable lyrics "Yes is no! No is yes!" (?!?!)

10) Hello! Hello!
Nothing special to me, just another typical SCANDAL pop/rock number. Easy on the ear, very radio-friendly, upbeat and cheerful.

12) Sayonara My Friend
I expected this to be a ballad, and it did turn out to be a ballad, albeit a slightly more cheerful one. From the title its probably meant to be a goodbye song, built along the same lines as "Sakura Goodbye" from their first album. The inclusion of the accoustic guitar is a nice touch, and this time the "la la la" parts do sound a tad too cheesy. Still, the lyrics are certainly very meaningful.


Overall I'd say the album is quite well-balanced with a good mix of fast, punchy songs, cheerful upbeat songs as well as slower melodic ballads. In terms of quality "Temptation Box" definitely sounds more polished compared to the raw sound of "Best Scandal", but somehow the songs don't resonate as well with me. For first time listeners to SCANDAL this album might seem a little underwhelming, and for that reason I'd recommend a listen to "Best Scandal". But of course fans of the band wouldn't want to give "Temptation Box" a miss.

"Temptation Box" is now on sale in Japan, Hong Kong and online stores. Singaporean fans, the overseas version has yet to hit our shores, so I guess we'll have to wait a little longer, or order online (I already did :P)

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Just a little update, Quis will be performing as part of the YOG celebrations at *Scape, next to Orchard Cineleisure, this Sunday 22 August, from 4.30p.m onwards. Come down and enjoy the music!

SCANDAL live in Hong Kong 2010 - The concert

I decided to include this on a different post after realising the amount of stuff I want to say about the concert. So here it is:

Day 3 - SCANDAL live in HK!

Finally, the day of the concert. Lazy to search for breakfast, so we had dim sum brunch in the hotel restaurant. Not too bad, the har gau, siew mai and egg tarts were excellent.



And quite reasonably priced too, considering its a restaurant.

We then set off for the concert venue, Hong Kong International Trade and Exhibition Centre (HITEC) in Kowloon Bay. Upon reaching the place at about 1.30pm, we spotted a queue that had already formed in front of the auditorium doors D:



We had no choice but to join the queue, or risk getting a lousy seat. So we sat there for 6 hours, fiddling with our mobile phones, trying to hook onto the elusive free Wi-Fi and spam Twitter updates, munching on snacks and hot dogs. Everything was getting stale when suddenly a small crowd walked past, and amongst them were 2 girls wearing distinctive checkered skirts. Haruna and Tomomi were right in front of our eyes! They were smiling at the crowd and Tomomi gave a wave, while I nudged Eugene and stared in stunned silence. In a flash they disappeared through a door, without allowing me time to dig for my camera.

Not long after the doors finally opened, and we rushed in to get good seats. We ended up somewhere in the middle, but not too far from the stage. It wasn't what I expected, the stage was pretty small for a rock concert, and reminded me of the auditoriums back in my JC and secondary school days. And of course, the concert finally started.

01. SCANDAL Theme
02. Shoujo S
03. S.L.Magic
-MC-
04. Anata ga Mawaru
05. DOLL
06. KOSHI-TANTAN
-MC-
07. Koi no Kajitsu
08. Switch
09. Namida no Regret
-MC-
10. Shunkan Sentimental
11. Taiyou to Kimi ga Egaku STORY
12. SCANDAL BABY
13. Space Ranger

Encore
14. Kagerou
15. EVERYBODY SAY YEAH

I've watched several of their performances on video so I kinda knew what to expect, but still, being part of the audience is a whole different experience. It was my 2nd live rock concert (after MUSE) but I was still taken aback by the loudness of the amplifiers.

Watching SCANDAL do their stuff on stage made me wonder why I hesitated to become a fan a few months back. Whatever doubt that I had of their talents evaporated instantly that night - if you could play as well as they did, dance around on stage like nobody's business AND get the crowd all hyper, then you definitely deserve to be called a star.

As a band they were very tight - all 4 of them knew what each other was playing, and there was this togetherness that they exuded on stage, you could tell from their faces and their eye contact. And most importantly, they looked and sounded as if they were having the time of their lives on stage, which of course infected the audience as well - everyone was waving their hands and singing along to the songs.

Haruna was the main culprit, constantly interacting with the crowd and getting everyone all hyped up with her fist pumping whenever she wasn't singing or playing her guitar. Tomomi was being her usual self, wide smile plastered on her face as she bounced around on stage, flinging her hair all over the place, all while playing her complicated basslines. Rina was stuck on the drums so I didn't really look at her (sorry Eugene :P), but from what I could see she really whacked those drums hard. Of the 4 of them though, Mami really deserves the accolades for that night - showmanship to the max. Every solo was greeted with loud cheers from the crowd, not surprisingly considering how she does them coupled with headbanging, jumping, epic-guitarist poses and of course the guitar-in-your-face move.

The MC parts were hilarious, mostly due to the translator Billy, who reminded me of a dog responding to its owner's calls every time Haruna called him out on stage. The crowd loved him for some reason, despite us not needing his services - most of the audience could understand what the members were saying in Japanese, I could pick out bits and pieces as well. Poor Billy. Oh, and Tomomi said she loved to eat "Yum Cha" when asked what she liked most about Hong Kong :P

Their setlist was quite predictable, most of the songs were crowd favourites like Shoujo S, Doll, Taikimi, Scandal Baby and Shunkan Sentimental, which for some reason (FMA, I believe) was the most popular song for the Hong Kong fans. I think they practically sang the whole song together, and Haruna actually left out one chorus for us to sing.

Surprisingly they also did a couple of B-sides, one of which was Natchi and Eugene's favourite, KOSHI-TANTAN. It was nice to hear some of their older songs like Koi no Kajitsu which I never heard previously, S.L Magic, Kagerou and my personal favourite Space Ranger. They also introduced their new song Everybody Say Yeah during the encore, and despite no one hearing it before, everyone managed to follow along and sing. It was a great song, perfect for lives.

After about 90mins of concert they finally ended with Everybody Say Yeah. It was too short in my opinion, I was expecting a couple more songs for the encore. After the concert ended everyone gathered in front of the stage to take a group photo, and I tried to force my way in by standing on the auditorium chairs. Don't think I could be seen though :(



After SCANDAL went offstage I whipped out my camera to take photos of the place, while Eugene rushed off to queue for his handshake session, which only those who had pre-ordered their new album Temptation Box could join. I didn't pre-order as I had no way of collecting the album (so was Eugene, but he went ahead anyway - hardcore fan).



For more pictures and a full account of the concert (in mandarin though) - http://www.anisong.org/?p=1159


After the handshake session Eugene looked like the happiest dude alive.



Ears still ringing from the concert, we headed back to our hotel where we managed to find some supper. I had a bowl of beef tendon noodles, which tasted pretty good (the beef was very tender and the soup had this spice to it)



Back at the hotel we blasted SCANDAL songs through the night and celebrated with beer. Our final haul of everything SCANDAL related.



I bought a copy of their BEST SCANDAL album, while the autographed postcard was Eugene's reward for spending 30 bucks for his 5 seconds of contact with the girls :P

And so that concludes my short trip to Hong Kong.

Mission accomplished!

More pictures on my Facebook and my Photobucket asuna88

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SCANDAL's 2nd studio album, Temptation Box will be released in Japan on 11/8, in Hong Kong on 13/8.

I hope it'll be released here in Singapore, but I'm not too hopeful - its tough to even find BEST SCANDAL here.

SCANDAL live in Hong Kong 2010

I had heard news that SCANDAL, a 4-girl Japanese rock band, was coming to Hong Kong to perform for ACG 2010 (Anime-Comic-Game). Staring at 2 plus more months of school holidays and the imminent end of my job back then, I half-jokingly planned out a little trip there to catch them live, with the money I earned for the past month or so. It wouldn't have materialized, if not for the next piece of news that reached my ears - that they were holding their own one-man live concert in HK on 1/8/2010.

Almost instantly Eugene and Natchi joined the "OMG I wanna go!" club.

Who cares about the ACG when you can catch a full-length concert? Plus the tickets were going cheap, around $50SGD. Coupled with a relatively good deal on Tiger Airways tickets and a reasonable hotel price - the decision was unanimous.

It was the first time a Japanese artist that I was following closely was going to perform so near to Singapore (Ayumi Hamasaki did hold a mega-tour in HK 2 years back, but I was in army then, her tickets were crazy expensive and impossible to get) and I wasn't going to miss the opportunity. Exchange trip to Japan won't be for another 2 years, and who knows what'll happen then?

And so after some planning and online bookings, we were all set to go.

Day 1

We reached HK at about 10.30am, after an ungodly take-off timing of 7am. We checked in at our hotel in Prince Edward, Kowloon, before heading off to explore the surrounding Mongkok shopping street areas.

Lunch was pork chop rice with ham and egg. Sinful, yes, but I was freakin' hungry :P



Ladies' Market



We wandered around, looking at random shops and stalls (perhaps still a little woozy from the lack of sleep), before heading down to Tsim Sha Tsui by MTR.

The famous view of Hong Kong Island as seen from Tsim Sha Tsui



The Avenue of Stars, where HK movie stars get their palm prints encased in concrete. And this here is arguably the biggest of them all



That famous pose



We planned to catch the Symphony of Lights at 8pm, so we took a little tea break at McDonald's (where else? :P). I've always been amused at finding non-halal food in overseas fast food restaurants, and here I found the mythical McPork.



Finally, as dusk fell across the harbour, the lights came on





The Symphony of Lights was a 15min light show involving the lights of those buildings you see in the previous pictures. Imagine those lights flashing along to techno and traditional Chinese music. That was about it, nothing spectacular, other than the green lasers shooting out from the roofs of certain towers.

We headed back to our hotel, stopping to have the best wonton mee in town for supper



The noodles were super springy and unique, the prawns in the wontons were huge and very fresh despite the time of the day, and the soup was very satisfying, not too salty and definitely not MSG-laden.

Of course we had to have dessert, and I found my favourite steamed milk




Day 2

Breakfast was century egg porridge



We ordered a plate of roast goose to try, and it was damn fatty and oily. I must say it tasted pretty good, if you ignored the feeling of having oil smeared all over your lips.

We then met Teo for lunch/tea break at a traditional HK "Char Chan Teng". We had assorted Bolo buns and some of the best milk tea I ever had. Teh peng super gao gao :P



Teo brought us around shopping in the Mongkok area, where I managed to find a nice pair of Puma sneakers for a meager $35SGD. It doesn't look fake to me, so I guess its a pretty good deal. We also went to Hong Kong's equivalent of Sim Lim Square where I spotted Starcraft 2 on sale for about $94SGD. I was very tempted, but I didn't buy it.

In one of the buildings we found a very old-school lift!



After some shopping we headed over to Central on HK island, via the Star Ferry, a surprisingly quick and cheap way to travel between Kowloon and HK island.



The glitzier feel of the "other side"



We had tea at another "char chan teng" before going up the mid-level escalators, which is a series of overhead walkways with very long escalators. After the short tour we bade Teo farewell and took a walk to the Peak Tram station for a ride to The Peak. Unfortunately, the tram was swamped with people, and the queue stretched as far as the eye could see. In the end we queued for nearly 2 hours for a 10min ride in the tram =.=



But the view at the top was worth it





Next day - SCANDAL live in Hong Kong!