We do!
[Video]
[6.38]
Alfred Soto: A helluva bass track works as propulsion and sound effect on this Japanese quartet’s track — they chose go, all right. Avril Lavigne and Toni Basil would have approved of its sweets and spritz.
[6]
Julian Axelrod: Man, what a relief to hear frantic, ecstatic post-punk that isn’t played by shaggy white trust fund kids and doesn’t center around roommate conflicts and fights with their ex. Chai have enough energy to power a small town, and I’m sure this absolutely crushes in a live setting. But even after multiple listens, I’m having trouble fully locking in — and I don’t just think it’s the language barrier. The chaotic four-piece attack feels disjointed, like they tried to cram ten hooks into a song instead of refining three good ones. Then again, maybe that’s exactly what they’re going for: world domination through unwavering inclusion. And I’m sure they don’t need my help getting there.
[6]
Thomas Inskeep: If you took Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” and made it simultaneously a little perkier and a little more indie-sounding (cf. Yeah Yeah Yeahs), and then translated it into Japanese, you’d have something close to “Choose Go!”
[6]
Ryo Miyauchi: “Choose Go!” finds Chai stepping up their neo-kawaii philosophy from a soft self-love mantra to a take-no-shit mindset. They don’t play nice to drill that down, and their essential message to get your sorry ass back up can feel like a tough gesture of discipline more than a friendly push. But Chai ultimately lead by example, earning their respect as a life coach through the toughness flowing from their wired garage-rock. While they simplify the course of action as if throwing out bad thoughts were as easy as trash day, their rambunctious energy convinces that it might actually be as simple as a set of instructions.
[6]
Will Rivitz: The conductor of my college choir has a bumper sticker that reads “Friends don’t let friends clap on one and three.” Smacking the ride cymbal on one and three is even worse.
[4]
Will Adams: A ball of tightly wound power pop that’s as propulsive as its title suggests. Extra point for the psychedelic warping near the end.
[7]
Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: The thing I love most about punk is its efficiency — the collapsing of the bloated structures of rock music into points of energy. “Choose Go!” exemplifies that efficiency, cramming in a full set of sonic rules and then those rules complete breakdown in a concise, endlessly fun package.
[8]
Ashley Bardhan: When I first heard this song, I couldn’t make out any of the English words other than the emblematic title, “choose go!” Then I heard it in my head after the song was over, that rubbery bassline and those splashing soda-pop cymbals pillowing under the effervescent refrain: “choose go!” What does that mean? Who fucking cares what anything means? I see all the choices of my life lined up in little black boxes in my head, and when I listen to “Choose Go!” I feel cute and I want to set all those boxes on fire. What does that mean? That I like this fucking band.
[8]