Once upon a time, I had a good friend and band member named Joshua. He used to huff paint and write lyrics in his room all day long, plotting his next scheme to get his hands on a bottle of Vodka and some Turkish Royals. Well involved and informed of the Japanese Punk scene, he showed me a few different 80's J-Punk bands and my love for all things Japanese had skyrocketed. One day I was at his house and I noticed he was playing this record. It ruled hard, I couldn't believe the intensity and violent atmosphere that suddenly dominated the room. He saw that I took an extreme interest in what was playing and just stated: "Kokeshidoll"
Kokeshism is the name of the record and as funny as the concept is that this band is named after an adorable little figurine, Kokeshidoll's music has enough audible strength to decimate a suburban neighborhood to mere rubble. This is 100% unrelenting Hardcore Punk, true to the Japanese way. Vocals are perfect and just what I come to expect from Punk, true to the genre and gets the message across in the Japanese language which is far better to listen to then if it were shouted in English. The riffs are really catchy and a lot of breakthrough parts and random solos are added in for variety and they really do fulfill their purpose. There's bass in there somewhere but through all the loud feedback and loud playing of the other instruments I cannot hear it, so I cannot really comment on that aspect. The drums are delectable, I love the way they are recorded and the snare is perfect for this record, something I am very picky about when it comes to music. The raw and filthy production really makes this record however, simply because its raw enough to get the full effect but isn't annoyingly shitty quality. Kokeshidoll definitely are not innovating in any means and they aren't supposed to be. This record alone in my opinion demolishes any Punk Sweden has ever released, in fact I strongly believe that the Swedish punk scene is highly overrated. Whether you call them Kokeshidoll, コケシドール, or just Cute Little Ornament, I think we can all agree that this record is what J-Punk should be. As for Josh? I think he died of drug overdose. Am I the only one that thinks this album cover is amazing?
