Track Listing

1. NUTS BANG!!!
2. SUMMER FREAK
3. Bring it on!
4. Tasogare Summer Days
5. SURFIN’ U.S.A.

1. NUTS BANG!!!

So we begin this mini-album with a pretty rockin’ track from the group.  We also see a return of some rapping from the group which I missed.  Now this is the FLOW that I’m used.  They’re lively, excited and pretty amazing as they go through the song.  Both Keigo and Kohshi do a really good job singing and rapping, they even threw in some growling in it.  Ok, that’s a bit weird…but the song is pretty cool.

2. SUMMER FREAK

SUMMER FREAK is a bit more faster than the last track and since both Keigo and Kohshi are singing this time.  It still carries their fun and energetic style for being J-rock and they’re still sounding so cool here.  Even the rapping seemed to fit here better.  Another good track.

3, Bring it on!

Surprisingly, they sound like they’re throwing in some reggae in with their rock sound to make a pretty tight song.  The vocalists sound a bit funny as they try to sing deeper than normal and it made for some lulz.  I’m not sure who’s the worst offender of doing it between the two, but cool and flow (pun) in the song is just oozing from them.  I think besides the weird vocal style, this is the best song so far.

4. Tasogare Summer Days

Hmmm…they seemed to split the song at first with this reggae, but then I bit my tongue and learned that it’s their most complex rock track off the mini-album.  I mean Iwasaki (drums) and Got’s (bassist) are doing a lot more here than they were in the previous tracks.  If it wasn’t for the reggae pauses during the song, I would’ve said this’d be awesome on “#5″.  It’s just that hard and awesome.

5. SURFIN’ U.S.A.

Jeeze….a cover of that famous Beach Boys song?  I’m sorry, but Japanese guys singing American rock songs just doesn’t cut it and sadly, FLOW did not do a good job covering this.  I mean the music is there, but it’s Keigo’s terrible lack of English that really took me out of the song.  He kind of likes to overaccent the words and it’s bothersome.  The FLOW energy is still there, so it’s not all bad and Take’s solo was awesome.

For being a summer album, they really upped their personalities and liveability ten fold with this release.  It was fun, very energetic, the songs didn’t sound like each other at all and even though the cover was meh, the rest are so good that I can see one or two of these tracks on their new album as they are that good.  *RECOMMENDED*

Track Listing

1. WORD OF THE VOICE
2. ESCA
3. Always
4. WORD OF THE VOICE -Instrumental-
5. WORD OF THE VOICE -PERSONA Opening Mix-

1. WORD OF THE VOICE

Ok, it’s been so damn long since I’ve heard something from FLOW last.  Actually the last time I heard something was “Go!!!” back in 2004.  Now hearing them today, I’ve seen more or less any drastic changes in their sound with WORD OF THE VOICE.  Maybe they are a bit more melodious with their music which is good and the song has a lot of them as well.  I haven’t seen any rapping either as well, but I guess it’s good.  I really like WORD OF THE VOICE right now.

2. ESCA

Every time I see this name, I think of Escaflowne…Doubt it has to do with anything of the anime.  Anyways, ESCA is a bit more laidback in terms of the groups music.  I actually like this track as well because it’s got a good riff and feel to it.  Sometimes Kohshi  and Keigo are a bit monotone throughout the chorus, but they fix it up in the verses. 

3. Always

Always is a pretty strange B-side because Kohshi is using a more deeper voice than he usually does while Keigo becomes the secondary singer of the song.  It does have similarities to “WORD OF THE VOICE”, but this is a pretty good song as well.  I think it needs a bigger bang in places, but this was good.

FLOW begins the “#5″ era strongly with WORD OF THE VOICE.  Even though it’s been a long while since I paid them any attention, they easily sparked my interest in them with the single.  The A-side pretty much was what I expected from them minus the rapping.  Same can be said for Always since they are a bit similar.  ESCA’s more slower view was great too…I actually have hope for this era.