Shirushi

If you love pop music as an international phenomena that combines a wealth of cultures and ideas, then Teke::Teke may well be the band youve been waiting for. Hailing from Montreal, Teke::Teke began as a one-off project from a handful of musicians paying homage to Takeshi Terauchi, one of the heroes of Japanese eleki music, a style of mostly instrumental rock that put a unique regional spin on the stylistic framework of the Ventures classic recordings. Once they began writing their own material, the group traveled a considerable distance from that starting point, and 2021s Shirushi, their first full-length album, is a dazzling and dizzying journey through an amalgam of eleki, Japanese traditional music, indie rock, film scores, psychedelia, art rock, and other subgenres that may exist only in the fertile imaginations of the musicians involved. The dominant instrumental flavors on Shirushi are the precise, buzzy yet twangy guitar figures of Serge Nakauchi Pelletier and Hidetaka Yoneyama, the evocative flute of Yuki Isami, the subtle trombone of Etienne Lebel, and the lead vocals of Maya Kuroki, who spins a wildly evocative and compelling story even if you dont understand a word of Japanese. (The rhythm section of bassist Mishka Stein and drummer Ian Lettre are also to be commended for their ability to drive this music forward with style and precision whether in low or high gear.) This music overflows with drama and emotion, sometimes graceful and beguiling (Tekagami), other times chaotic and manic (Meikyu), and occasionally grand but ominous (Kizashi). While the prominent Asian elements in Teke::Tekes music would set them apart in any event, even without them this would be powerful music thats at once challenging and deeply rewarding. Teke::Teke succeed not because their flavors are exotic (though sometimes they are), but because their music is dynamic, expressive, and boldly takes the listener on a journey to a creative place they almost certainly havent been before. Teke::Teke are far more than the sum of their many influences; theyve fashioned those influences into performances that are as fun as they are intelligent and unique, and Shirushi is as promising and satisfying a debut as any North American group has presented in quite a while. ~ Mark Deming