Q (5/99, pp.111-112) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...their exquisitely tailored pop is never merely ironic. A heartfelt love of pop's entire lexicon - bar grunge - informs their work..."
Rovi
A group like Japan's Pizzicato Five could only exist in the '90s. They venture so far down the postmodernist pop path that they come out the other side, seeming completely guileless and natural. This is the daunting goal realised on INTERNATIONAL PLAYBOY. Singing in Japanese, the ladies of Pizzicato Five come across with the same unaffected citizen-of-the-world cool that made Astrud Gilberto a star decades earlier. The difference is that the Five are working their magic over a genre-busting sonic "mess-thetic" that incorporates '60s pop, hip-hop beats, funk, classical samples and bossa nova guitar riffs, often all in the same song. The potential for overkill in such circumstances looms large, but the Pizzicato Five's pure pop ambition ultimately wins out, making INTERNATIONAL PLAYBOY engaging and endlessly surprising.|
Rovi