Idol-metal continues to deafen and delight us.
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[6.12]
Patrick St. Michel: Momoiro Clover Z have, for most of their existence, been positioned as alternative idols in Japan. Don’t want to be associated with the nerdy vibes of AKB48? Want a group overflowing with references to Japanese pop-culture relics? Feeling like backing the only idol group I know of to ever appear on an Ozzfest bill? “Gounn,” though, is a reminder that for all the theatrics and winks towards the camera, Momoiro is a pop group capable of straightforwardly catchy music. Despite a “Buddhism theme” (leaning close to being a flat-out problem…though compared to the last time they tried this out…) that calls for some sitar, “Gounn” is pretty uncomplicated for them. This songs zips ahead on the rock-centric sound the bulk of their music has relied on, peaking with the dramatic chorus. It is, for them, a simple and effective song, regardless of how hard they try to convince folks they aren’t an idol-pop group.
[7]
Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: Welcome to “Gounn”, where the bass is always louder than the drums, more voices is better than not enough voices and the music’s never too fast – you’re probably listening too slow. Any point is made by the first verse with a dizzying navigation around hairpin vocal-timings and snotty teen vocals, tipping into gross ostentatiousness; the second’s a straw man, arguing a losing point and losing the audience; the end of the song finds a Gregorian chant down the side of the couch and shrugs at all the fake mysticism it found down there.
[5]
Crystal Leww: This is so cartoon-ish! Like literally, someone should make this the theme song to their cartoon about fighting robots or something.
[4]
Edward Okulicz: Plenty going on as usual, but curiously doesn’t feel as long as it is. Maybe it’s that the opening suggests that without all the sitar-prog nonsense — pleasureable nonsense, mnd you — there’s enough oomph in the chorus to work without gimmick. “Gounn” falls onto unsteady ground any time that thrilling bass disappears, but those moments are brief and usually accompanied by something ridiculous happening. So, yeah, just another Momoiro Clover Z single; they’re uneven and unpredictable in one sense but nicely consistent in another.
[7]
Mallory O’Donnell: I know the lace-over-rubber contrast of high-end vocal dynamics and mental minstrel strumming is what most people are drawn to here, but I find the vocal merely distracting. The music provides enough contrast and throws enough shapes: pogo, pure bubblegum, Iron Maiden, 50’s-60’s fake ‘Asian’ and ‘Middle Eastern’ records played by LA jazz bands, pure mushroomy psychedelia. And Jesus, the intro.
[7]
Brad Shoup: Ska-metal ahoy! And a whole bunch of other stuff, as high-concept MCZ continues to be too high for its own good. I can’t keep waiting around for that one neat chord.
[5]
Iain Mew: Even by Momoclo standards, the first words set some new extremes for piercing vocals. Bear with “Gounn,” though, and there’s glorious excess and a refusal to settle into any kind of formula beyond that principle. This is a lesser single, slap bass aside, but they’re still the best high wire act around, striding across over preposterousness with confidence.
[7]
Jonathan Bogart: At a certain point, piling choruses and bridges and verses on top of each other in a towering structure turns into shapelessness; still, through the murk there’s enough pleasure — that funk-metal bassline, particularly — to guide me patiently through the labyrinth.
[7]