Fudeki is a solid companion piece to Jodeki that acts as both a victory lap and a new path towards excitingly noisy and experimental directions. The songs are great as expected and tricot still know how to have fun while challenging themselves to try new things.
One of Japan's best and most reliable exports in rock music is certainly tricot. The quartet have been creating sharp, technically intricate rock tunes for over a decade now, releasing many great albums including their fantastic album Jodeki, released in late 2021. Now just about one quick year later, the band is back with their seventh record titled Fudeki. On the surface, the album seems to be a sister album of sorts when noticing the similarities in the album titles and the album artwork (Jodeki features band leader Ikkyu's adorable dog on the cover while Fudeki features a futuristic, shimmery metallic robot dog instead).
When listening to Fudeki in comparison, there is still the fun, vibrant and playful attitude that is featured prominently on Jodeki. The production, performances, and instrumentation this time around are a bit weirder, noisier, and looser but are still full of color and personality. The opening track "Imitation paper Hideki-chan" sets the album up in this direct fashion: a noisy and abrasive guitar-driven drone that features more talking instead of the usual singing from the members. One thing to note is that even though not all the songs can be this abrasive, it's the most noisily driven album from tricot yet. If you're familiar with tricot's music, you're typically going to get loud and abrasive rock bangers but it seems to be turned up a notch on numerous tracks on Fudeki. My personal favorite has to be "#Achoi," which could've easily been on Jodeki because of its funkier grooves from guitarist Motifour, beautiful harmonies, quirky keys, killer chorus, and a layered percussion line including bongos.
Another thing to note is that the production is noticeably a bit rougher at times than on Fudeki than on Jodeki. I noticed that immediately on the lead single "Aquarium" and it was initially a turnoff at first because of its rougher mixing. Despite this, it has since grown on me and it's not really an issue to me anymore, especially since the songs and performances here are simply too good to pass up on. You get some expectedly great and reliant anthems that you've come to expect from tricot on tracks like "End Roll," "Sthenno" and "Aquarium" like I mentioned earlier. But you also get some curveballs thrown at you at numerous points wether it's from the instrumentals themselves, the production choices or the effects that are added. "Jodan kentei" has an ambient, shimmering guitar that covers the entire song in a cool glow and "Android" has these explosive drumming with some really unique vocal effects added onto the vocals that are lo-fi but also futuristic sounding? "crumb" is a ghostly and eerie ballad that's kind of Grizzly Bear-ish with the harmonies, drumming and guitars. I never thought I'd compare tricot with Grizzly Bear but here we are. The album's title track is a seven minute long monster. Its chugging guitars, harmonious vocals and raging drums sound like their very heavily influenced by grunge and alternative rock from the 90's. Even listening to the chorus and melodies can remind you of all the influential rock bands during that era. This song is definitely the biggest showcase in the band's abilities to jam and play along freely.
The album also includes another surprise which is a remix of a track off of their previous album. Jodeki's title track gets a fresh new remix. The original song itself is a highlight already but the added synths, samples, and harmonies add a freshly colorful coat of paint that I didn't even know I wanted. Despite not exactly getting the expected fireworks that I received from Jodeki previously, Fudeki is a great companion piece that acts as both a victory lap and a new path towards excitingly noisy and experimental directions. There's a variety in the track listing and the production is a bit grittier and rougher than I hoped but after listening to it again and again, it definitely grows on me. The songs are great as expected and the band still know how to have fun while challenging themselves to try new things. Fudeki is yet another great album in tricot's ever changing and growing array of albums. They continue to be one of the most enjoyable and exciting rock bands to follow right now.
My Rating: 7 / 10
Favorite Songs: "#Achoi," "OOOL," "Fudeki," "Android," "Aquarium," "Jodeki" (Fudeki Remix)
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