Kyoshu Nostalgia

You'll hear the familiar and intensely melodic traces of the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Zombies here, but what makes Kyoshu Nostalgia so compelling is Marxy's nostalgic-nostalgic vantage point: he's playing with genre without destroying it. He's introducing rhythmic and musical figures that would dizzy the Wilson brothers, but without sacrificing the accessibility of his melodies. He's imprinting Japanese orchestral pop and shoegazer noise onto the Western pop of the 60s, while acknowledging that, of course, 60s pop came first. Songs are highly stylized without being parodies, and most importantly, the past is confronted without simply being regurgitated. The album's as impressive as it is irresistible, smart as it is emotionally potent, and you can't say that about much pop music these days at all.