12012 - Play Dolls/not obtain+1

Am I impressed? Very. Is 12012 up there in my favorites? Yes. That should explain most of it. ...But I'm nice! I decided to do a review. And here it is.

Play Dolls

Hermit - In this song Wataru sounds like a love child between Kyo and Hizumi. The writing's good. It's hummable. Nothing out of the ordinary, just a really good song.

My Room Agony - 12012 has background growls/shouts too? They put them to good use, making the song groove 3 times more. I love how Wataru screams-- it sounds raw, yet unforced... but obviously smoker-fied. :( This song's good too. I like how Enya's bass sounds, but he needs to do more with it. There's alot of cool vocal moments in this song, like the part where he makes Kyo-like sounds while there's another vocal track in the background.

Wriggle Girls - Despite the dumb title, this song is plain awesome. I can't get enough of the chorus! I sing along with it many times. The engrish is cute, and the notes are beautiful. What's not to like? The verses may be kind of uneventful, but it's worth waiting for 1. The high notes in verse two 2. The chorus. I keep finding new guitar parts on every listen, because there's just so much to this song.

Icy~Cold City~ - Something about this song REALLY stands out, compared to the others. Every song could've been the single on this album (That's a make or break thing. It broke Every Time I Die's Hot Damn!, but it makes this album.), but this song is just like BAM, because it just has that.. air about it. Maybe it's because this is the song that got me INTO 12012, or the first one I remember hearing (and liking), but this song is really really cool. I love the line "He said it's a stone cold world". Overall good song.

With Shallow - I like this song, but... it doesn't seem to stand out much to me.

Melancholy - This song's alright, doesn't do much though.

Cheeky Doll - LOL!!! (I do like this song though.)

Calf Love - o_o....

The Swim - Meh.

Queer Passion - This song's cool. Doesn't fit as a closer, though. It faked me out-- I thought the album would kick back in gear, but instead it just.. ended..

not obtain+1

Incur... - Nice screaming, but.. yawn.

Shounen to ORCHESTRA - I didn't call for this, did I?

Suiso no Naka no Kanojo - Nice scream, again. I like this song. The riffs are cool, and Wataru is all over the place. I like how it changes abruptly for the chorus.

Newspaper - I really wonder if that's backward speech. I played it backward-- still gibberish. Oh well. This song is really cool. The left guitar is more than awesome during the verses. Sure, the drums are a little weak, but who can resist background shouts? This song's very well written, and the chord changes are pretty cool. It's good when bands play more than power chords.

Ray -Blahblahblahblah- - Meh.

Vomit - Easily like, my favorite on this album. I like the mumbling verses, and I just LOVE the singing in the background. It sounds dark and ominous, in a way. The "lalalalalala" or whatever is cool, too. ...Screw it, everything in this song is cool.

Swallow - The dissonance in the bass/left guitar is what drew me in. This is one of the songs where it isn't Wataru who shines. Something seems very D'espairsRay-ish about this song. I like, though, when Wataru hits that weird note in the chorus. When he yells "How I wish I could get up", it is just.. great.

Sick - Woot. This song opens up in a rather.. awesome manner. The guitarists shine here, too. I like the constant changes in pattern and whatnot, like how if this song were someone else's it'd be three songs. I still sense some D'esRay-ity in here.

Whatever This Song Is Called... It's Track Nine.. - Meh.

Shower - ....Average.

And finally! The bonus song!
See-Saw - This is soooo not worth getting a type B.

And there y'have it! 12012's recent release. I see these guys climbing up the indie ladder. ...Well I'm tired, and my eyes hurt, so I conclude with my gripes: The filter on Wataru's voice is so heavy sometimes, it gets sorta annoying. I can deal with it though. It's his trademark. ...And! The two albums seem to lose their steam after some time. Like, the first tracks are like POW!, and the end is.. weak. But that's okay. I enjoy it every time I listen to these two albums.

Gazette - Nil

I was hyped about this album, I admit. And even now, it's exiting. Even though I heard it. Okay enough babble. REVIEW TIME!

So, we get another rapping intro, The End. I like that. So, first they were gangsters, and then they were plain VKers, and now they're... Rapping cowboys? Sweet. It doesn't go well into the next track though.

Nausea and Shudder - This song is cool. It's worth the six minutes. I actually think that it's appropriate. I LOVE Ruki's first vocal lines, that later get repeated, at 3:15. The verses rock too. I just love the shout-ey part too.

Bath Room - Nothing to see here. It's... Gazette.

Maggots - HELLO! I kinda missed heavy Gazette songs. This song is short and furious, which is something that I can't resist most of the time. The background shouts, though used alot, and by alot of bands really pay off here. What's weird is, while Nausea and Shudder feels really short, this song feels long. Hm. o_O

Namaatatakai ame tozaratsuita jounetsu - Not you too....

D.L.N. - booooooooooooooring

Shadow VI II I - Welcome back! When I first heard the sample, I was like YAY NEW ALBUM and didn't pay attention to the song. Then the second time, I kept listening to it over and over and over.. and now having the whole thing is awesome. I like the background singing. And the groovin' part that Ruki sings at one point. The Miyavi-song-rip-off-part is forgivable, because Ruki saves the day. <3 Woo. Good choice for a single.

Baretta - Whenever this song starts, I always think Call Me by 12012 is on, until the singing starts.. Then I'm like "Oh.. ::skip::"

Cassis - Come to think of it, the bass in the beginning is cool. (Read below for my review of the single blah blah blah)

Silly God Disco - Oh gosh. No. No. Stop. NO. AAAAH.

Discharge - hehehe.. discharge... Anyway. The beginning roar was like cleansing to my ears, after the poppy cheesy keyboard-ridden terror called Silly God Disco. This song is just what I wanted from them! A+.

Taion - Mmmm... I love this. Okay, it's a bit long, but definately worth it. At the end Ruki does his best Kyo impersonation, and it's adorable. This is definately a great closer. It sounds more.. serious than alot of the rest of the album, which is nice. The grunge-like riffs are really well done.

And so we have it, another good Gazette release. It flows perfectly into the next section of my playlist. Taion + Kagerou - Saigo no Kensa = weirdly well-going-together.. or however that goes... Well, anyway, I'm proud of Gazette. I expected to be semi-disappointed. Either they would give another Gama, Disorder, or a whole album of Cassis and Toguro's. Instead, they gave us all of it, all rolled up into one awesome ball of music.