The Loneliness of Youth: ‘Kessoku Band’ Album Review

tyingtides

3/12/23

Editor's note: The English translated lyrics referenced in the piece are taken from LyricTranslate and LyricalNonsense, made by anonymous translators. Available to find here: https://lyricstranslate.com/en/kessoku-band-lyrics.html https://www.lyrical-nonsense.com/global/lyrics/kessoku-band/flashbacker/english/

Kessoku Band is a fictional band from Bocchi the Rock, but a band made up of talented musicians nonetheless. As a music-focused anime, Bocchi the Rock has the advantage of its soundtrack actually being good, regardless of whether you’ve seen the anime or even care for anime at all (but hey, if you don’t then why are you reading this in the first place?!). So, as somebody who, in all honesty, prefers listening to music over watching anime, I thought this would be the perfect project for me.

Kessoku Band’s tracklist consists of fourteen complex and well-written J-rock songs, demonstrating a good balance of fast-paced and slower-paced songs. The vocals are all sung by the original VAs of Bocchi the Rock, primarily by Ikumi Hasegawa (Kita), which keeps it consistent with the anime while creating an impressive piece of music (as they’re all strong vocalists). This album should be perceived as far more than an “anime album”.

Several features of this album make it stand out to me as a standalone work of art rather than just the product of one of my favourite anime. One of these features is the contrast between heavy, fast-paced and upbeat music, and downbeat, deeply depressing lyrics, which is shown throughout the album. The way in which dark emotions are conveyed through the vocals is surprisingly effective, given that it is based on a fictional character (Bocchi) rather than the artists’ own experiences. The lyrics, which I will discuss based on English translations, are beautifully constructed. Rather than just a collection of depressing songs, the album displays some form of cohesion, and there is a sense of narrative as many songs contain pieces of the same story. The protagonist of the album (assumed to be Bocchi) feels lonely and isolated from the world, without an emotional outlet, but realises she can gain happiness from music. By the final song, the moments of loneliness do not go away, but Bocchi grows to accept them.

Above all, what makes this album so great is the instrumentation. The songs are incredibly detailed, which makes them enjoyable to listen to. There is a decent balance between heavier songs (‘Seishun Complex’, ‘Ano Bando’, ‘Never Forget’) and softer songs (‘Flashbacker’, ‘Karakara’), as well as variation in how intricately the instrumentation is layered, and how elaborate the lyrics are.

The first song, ‘Seishun Complex’ (青春コンプレックス), gets the album off to a lively start with heavy drums, and guitar riffs shape an upbeat melody—but the lyrics, as the title suggests, are rather downbeat. They depict Bocchi’s yearning to experience happiness, leading to despair and envy when she cannot experience such feelings:

I used to like the dark and cramped spaces / with my hood pulled completely over my head / and eyes that resented this emotionless world / I couldn’t help but want to love.

I wanted a bright place to be in / but I was too scared of being touched.

These verses have a similar structure: Bocchi describes how she appears to enjoy loneliness, discomfort, and isolation despite yearning for more, feeling further alienated by commonly shared experiences of friendship and happiness being out of her reach. The contrast between the upbeat instrumentation and dark, edgy lyrics is interesting. While most songs have this same juxtaposition, ‘Seishun Complex’ is a great example.

Another example of this contrast is ‘Karakara’ (カラカラ), which lyrically captures the emotional resilience carried while habouring such intense loneliness. The vocals are much softer and the verses are relatively bare, but the instrumentation is still richly layered. This song features songwriting from tricot’s Ikkyu Nakajima, so if you like this song, I’d recommend listening to tricot (please listen!). ‘Guitar, Loneliness and Blue Planet’ (ギターと孤独と蒼い惑星) also contrasts the upbeat tone with the sense of despair that can only be released through an outlet like playing these very songs. The build-up of instruments lead to an explosive chorus, which mirrors Bocchi’s emotions, where the raw vocals convey this sense of desperation, a longing to be heard in the world. This is one of the more famous songs from the album, and there’s a reason for it. The layering, vocals, and awesome guitar work make for a song that’s so fun to listen to.

‘That Band’ (あのバンド) is my favourite song from the album, although I may be somewhat biased as I discovered this song before watching, or even knowing the premise of, Bocchi the Rock. The instrumentation is heavy and fast-paced, and the music is interesting to listen to, because there are so many parts to it that are equally complex. The lyrics are intricately constructed and rather cryptic compared to the other songs, but seem to describe the allure of sad, downbeat music; while others find comfort in happier things, or happier music made by “that band”.

That band’s song, to me it’s like / the sound of a railway tearing apart. / Don’t push me forward / the train is coming soon.

Here, happiness is depicted as something dangerous that Bocchi wishes to avoid. The intensity of the ‘impact’ of suddenly feeling happiness is too much for her to take, and she knows this. This powerful metaphor captures how Bocchi perceives happiness as something too intense for her to handle, lyrically similar to the song ‘Dog Days are Over’ by Florence + The Machine (although in the latter, the protagonist is, per se, hit by the train of happiness). Bocchi doubles down in the chorus, closing herself off from the world around her to focus on what she wants to hear and perceive:

Close my eyes, a halo that pierces the dark / cover my ears, a steady pulsing beat / deep in my chest, a heart that rocks my body / I don’t want to hear anything else / besides the sound that sets me free.

Bocchi listens to the sounds she wants to hear, the sounds that set her free – those sounds being the sad songs. She commits to shutting herself away from happiness, and even in the final chorus: Open my eyes, a legacy of loneliness / take it in, the urge to rebel, she admits to herself that, to some degree, she wishes to be an outsider, wallowing in her loneliness. This song stands out on the album as the most original, both in terms of the instrumentation and the extremely clever lyrical concept. I must say, standing on stage and performing this song elicits a sense of catharsis akin to what is conveyed throughout the album.

‘Never Forget’ (忘れてやらない) has an interesting lyrical concept. The song describes being different from others, and with this finding feelings of both inferiority and superiority. Ultimately, though, Bocchi doesn’t know what to do with this conflict. At first, this is captured by the recurring train metaphor, where Bocchi watches those who pass her by “on the happiness train”, while she is still trying to interpret her surroundings with very little objectivity:

The crowded train rattles and shakes / as a semi-express train passes by / I’m trying to find the expression of the clouds with no outline.

Trying to define the shape of clouds is akin to defining emotions, as they are both interpreted subjectively. Later in the song, these feelings are stated much more explicitly: A kind of self-loathing inferiority / a sense of superiority for being different / emotions clashing with each other / what on Earth am I doing?

This marks a turning point in the song, as the lyrics poetically state: Today someone’s starting a new day / but for me it’s the end of one / [...] things like fate and miracles / they’re just too much for me / so I’ll take a small step forward. Bocchi contemplates taking a small step forward in coming out of her shell, and moving beyond the familiar sound of the bell, the dust piled up on the windowsill / even the smell of the classroom. The instrumentation in this song never slows down, which captures the intensity of this moment in Bocchi’s progression: her first step forward. Similarly to the intensity of the instrumentation in ‘That Band’, ‘Never Forget’ continues to capture the persistent intensity of emotion. This is another one of my favourites, due to its heavier sound and interesting lyrical concepts.

It was fun to learn that KANA-BOON’s Maguro Taniguchi wrote the lyrics for ‘Distortion!!’, because I did think it felt eerily KANA-BOON-esque on first listen... This song is a really cheesy J-pop-rock song with a strong beat, but the guitar solo keeps the track stylistically consistent with the rest of the album, as this one feels slightly more mellow due to the vocal harmonies. It is yet another song about profound loneliness and isolation, but this time the feeling is overcome by music as an emotional outlet:

My pinned down loneliness / I cover with the rhythm of my snares.

I can make even my problems tremble / with my vibrating vocal chords.

The theme of the lyrics is reflected well in the sound, with the whole band becoming energised in the chorus, just like the lyrics describing the feelings of happiness:

Distortion it’s motion / when it has started, you can’t stop it anymore.

“If I Could Be a Constellation” (星座になれたら) is another song that is more J-pop than J-rock, but it has a great bassline, which helps the song stand out. Otherwise, this song would blend in too much among other hard-hitting songs. The lyrics are a little cliché, describing coming together to form a constellation but knowing that it will not last forever: If we could come together to form a constellation / I’ll use the night as a canvas to paint an ideal dream / [...] I won’t break the lines that link us together / no matter how bright you are. There is no allusion to romance, rather a sense of forming any human connection. This is a unique angle for the lyrics to take, as most artists focus on romance, which is something I appreciate about this song.

‘Alone in Tokyo’ (ひとりぼっち東京) is a well-constructed song, which is enjoyable to listen to, although feels somewhat out of place in the album’s narrative. I think this song contains a lot of references to metaphors that recur throughout the album:

I felt like I could hear the sound of a distant railway crossing / But I kept walking without looking back.

This song feels out of place at the beginning of the album, because it captures Bocchi accepting loneliness upon realising that everyone is alone in Tokyo. I’m not entirely sure if this song is supposed to be a fantasy of Bocchi’s, or sung from the perspective of “future Bocchi”, making most of the album retrospective. Perhaps this is a nuance lost in translation. This song prompts the discussion of how hitoribocchi translates roughly to “alone” (or can be shortened to just “Bocchi”). Calling the main character Hitori Gotou, nicknamed Bocchi, should not be lost in translation.

‘Secret Base’ (ひみつ基地) has an extremely catchy guitar riff and melody, which is what helps this song stand out. The lyrics refer to a safe place, in which Bocchi feels comfort:

Even if you say that I am boring, / or if you say that I am never serious, / because I have that place / it is going to be alright.

I suspect that this ‘place’ refers to a space where she can play music, or even performing on stage, but the lyrics are broad enough that people can have individual interpretations. The song feels like a glimmer of hope among other depressing songs, but other tracks remain much more hard-hitting.

As much as I’d love to give an entirely positive review, I must stay balanced and share my low points, as I do have some. To me, there is a slight lull in the second half of the album, with a few slower, simpler songs placed back-to-back. This isn’t inherently a bad thing, but Kessoku Band’s strengths certainly lie in their complex and richly layered instrumentation. ‘The Little Sea’ (小さな海) is a much grander song, more akin to a ballad, but feels slightly out of place in the middle of the album. The instrumentation continuously builds up, but it seems a failed effort to balance out the heavier songs, instead creating a song that is slightly boring in comparison.

‘What Is Wrong With’ (なにが悪い) features songwriting and music by Yuho Kitazawa of the peggies. This song feels different from the rest of the album, due to the simpler instrumentation, and vocals by Sayumi Suzushiro (Nijika). The choice of vocalist is interesting, given how the song is about relishing youth and embracing the lostness that comes with it, because Sayumi’s voice is much higher and “youthful” than the other three vocalists’. Nonetheless, to me, this is another song that contributes to the album’s lull.

To touch on the final low point, ‘I Can’t Sing a Love Song’ (ラブソングが歌えな) is another song depicting intense loneliness, this time focused on love songs and how unrelatable they often are. Once again, there is a strong sense of desperation conveyed through the vocals, making the song feel vulnerable and genuine. Although the song is enjoyable to listen to, the instrumentation lacks a little compared to other heavier songs on the tracklist and fails to stand out.

The penultimate song, ‘Flashbacker’ (フラッシュバッカー), starts the closing of the album, and it makes for a cathartic listening experience. Bocchi questions whether she will be remembered, but ultimately holds onto words that other people have shared with her, as she sings the words you told me / I never want to let go. These words likely refer to small moments of gratitude that others have shared with her, in which Bocchi truly feels valued and believes that her existence is one worth remembering. Because she hides herself away, I’m sure these moments don’t happen as often as for others. This is a beautifully constructed song, lyrically and musically. I particularly like the lines:

I wonder what colour / this transparent body will become / like flowing water / will it simply disappear?

This is the only slower-paced song that really works, given its persistent emotional and instrumental intensity. Other slow songs lack this intensity, meaning they fall under par given how much emotion can be found in most of the album’s songs.

The final song, ‘Rock n’ Roll, Morning Light Falls on You’ (転がる岩、君に朝が降る) feels somewhat like a forced happy ending—although I find it a bittersweet ending rather than a purely happy one. The lyrics reminisce on old feelings of being lost and lonely that haven’t quite changed, but they are now recalled with acceptance instead of despair.

What lies beyond that hill after we climb it / is a shining light /

the light of morning that will expose / your solitude and everything else.

The inevitable morning light reveals Bocchi’s feelings of loneliness, perhaps even bringing a sense of warmth and comfort. Unlike other songs on the album, there is no struggle against solitude. This is a cover of Asian Kung Fu Generation’s original song, and it was an effective choice for the album’s finale, despite not being a Kessoku Band original. It gives some kind of closure to the layers and layers of despair in the previous songs without dismissing the emotions that the album seeks to capture.