UMA

Evolving from an indie rock / J-rock band after forming in 2015 in a Tokyo suburb, BETCOVER!! has quickly evolved into a much more sophisticated band starting with 2022's "卵 (Tamago)" which started dabbling in jazz-rock, prog, alternative rock and experimental elements. BETCOVER!! continues less than a year later with its fifth album "馬 (Uma)" which simply is the Japanese word for "horse."

Unlike the previous album, this one is short and snappy not even hitting the 30 minute mark but offers a unique mix of jazzy art rock, small doses of proggy counterpoints, alternative rock and a very unique style of 60s Japanese blues called enka. The result is a strange hybrid of the modern Japanese noise rock style bands only tamed with expressive pop hooks that make it super catchy upon first listen with all the complexities revealing themselves under the surface.

Once again the entire album is in Japanese, lyrics and track titles offering a bit of exoticism lost in recent decades due to every nation conforming to the English only standard. The Japanese language offers its own rhythms not possible in English and BETCOVER!! takes full advantage of this with a bizarre mix of piano based hooks, heavy rock guitar and a crooning style of vocal delivery provided by Jiro Yanase. The sum total equates to a bizarre amalgamation of film soundtrack sounding music mixed with an indie rock band.

It's always cool to hear bands taking music into different arenas never really considered. I never even heard of enka before BETCOVER!! so that's obviously a whole arena of music of Japan worthy of exploring for the diehards who can't get enough of that innovative nation's creative output. What i love about this is that it is instantly accessible while remaining a bit alienating. It's really hard to describe and needs to be experienced. Japanese loungecore? You can always make up a new phrase to describe it but whatever you call it, it's innovative and captivating.