Karen Girl’s – Fly To The Future December 24, 2009

Track Listing

1. Pikatto Kiratto! Dash Girl’s
2. Over The Future
3. Top Secret
4. Zettai love×love Sengen!!
5. FULL THROTTLE
6. MY WINGS
7. Bye! Bye! Bye!

1. Pikatto Kiratto! Dash Girl’s

Well, I guess I’m running into a genki filled album because simply, The girls are definitely shoving down the cute down my throat and it’s strange.  Not bad, but not exactly what I was hoping for.  While the girls, Ayami, Yuika, and Suzuka are really young in this release, their vocals are actually not horrible and sound kind of something H!P like, mostly the early C-ute days.  The music feels the same too, but I feel like there’s more energy and the brass helped here too.  Not a bad start.

2. Over The Future

Being the girls first single, Over The Future really surprised me because it felt like an actual Nami Tamaki song mixed with H!P.  I really loved the electric guitar riffs and the girls alot here.  Give or take the few cringe-worthy genki moments and honestly it’s one of their best songs released. 

3. Top Secret

Being the B-side off of their 2nd single, “MY WINGS” I was really agitated here with the opening here…I’m quickly getting annoyed by that.  The ladies get solo lines and oddly enough they sound pretty strong even though they are pretty flat when it comes down to it.  I might’ve been too hard on it during the single, but on the album, it’s not too bad, but seriously take out the yelling.

4. Zettai love×love Sengen!!

I was wondering what I was going to get with their next new song off the album and I was happy to hear a more synth-fronted arrangement instead of the typical sound of the last few songs.  It’s got that idol-pop sound down to a t and to me it sounds like a FFX-2 themed song because I get deja vu through various parts like the song’s instrumental.  I liked this though.

5. FULL THROTTLE

OIC Karen Girl’s…there’s the FFX-2 homage XD.  For a song called FULL THROTTLE I was expecting a high-edged song that moved quickly, but sadly that role was taken by “Over The Future”.  Though I’ll admit that the song has great vocals from the girls and once again features solo lines that make me smile because they’re pretty good. 

6. MY WINGS

Since this was the group’s 2nd single, I was enjoying this a bit as a single, but on here it seems to be overshadowed by the other songs off the album.  I love the fact that MY WINGS has strings in it and works like a Nana Mizuki anime song because it does work for them.  Still one of the shockers to be released and I liked it a lot.

7. Bye! Bye! Bye!

I love the opening to the final song because it just felt so fantasy-like.  However, it shows the girls singing abilities aren’t that great in the song.  I’ll give them a benefit of the doubt since the song’s arrangement is cool.  I like the piano lines and the use of brass throughout.  I might regret it but I think it’s a great ending to an album.

Tracks Recommended

• Over The Future
• Zettai love×love Sengen!!
• MY WINGS

Song of Avoidance

• Top Secret

Unfortunately, the group broke up right after this was released and that’s kind of sad because they were going somewhere with their music.  While I’ll miss them, Fly To The Future wasn’t a bad album idol-wise.  It has peppy songs and some slower songs to mesh together and honestly, not bad.  Maybe we’ll see a reemergence of at least one member in the future.

Karen Girl’s – MY WINGS April 7, 2009

Track Listing

1. MY WINGS
2. Top Secret
3. MY WINGS (INST)
4. Top Secret (INST)

1. MY WINGS

MY WINGS, just like the last single “Over The Future” is just as heavy on the dance beats but featured some pretty cool violins.  The girls are also better here because they aren’t doing the whole idol yelping thing.  They actually they sound pretty good harmonizing with each other.  MY WINGS might come off as a little cheap, but it’s way better than the last single.

2. Top Secret

Well…there goes my hope for Top Secret being any good.  The song is really idol to the max, especially that terrible beginning.  The girls do get solos here, but the song is pretty forgettable and doesn’t feature the same harmonization “MY WINGS” had…I think it was an ending…I could be wrong, but I wouldn’t put it against me if it was.

 

 

Karen Girl’s final single was a tad bit better than “Over The Future” as MY WINGS managed to get the girls in a better light.  The B-side was a little bit disappointing to hear, but it’s not terrible, just too much cute in the song.  Where’s the multitudes of remixes?

Karen Girl’s – Over the Future March 8, 2009

Track Listing

1. Over The Future
2. Over The Future (Catastrophe mix)
3. Over The Future (Light Speed mix)
4. Over The Future (Untouchable mix)
5. Over The Future (Instrumental)

1. Over The Future

Over The Future has your typical anime opening sound.  The music sounds a little bit like Nami’s lane of arrangements, but this is an idol group that’s singing this.  I feel the verses are a bit mechanical and short paced for me but the chorus was loads better.  I still think the random idol moments of the song do kill it, but it’s actually pretty good for their first A-side.

2. Over The Future (Catastrophe mix)

The first of our remixes is a bit different than the main mix because there’s a lot more guitar.  There’s still some, but it isn’t as much as it was in the original.  Idol girls and rock music do not mix together very well and this remix shows why. 

3. Over The Future (Light Speed mix)

Unlike the previous remix, this has a more strings based sound which definitly reminds me of Nana Mizuki’s “Astrogation”.  I found this remix to be so much more cohesive and make tons better sense than hard guitars.  This could be better than the original in fact.

4. Over The Future (Untouchable mix)

The last remix is more for the J-tek fans because Karen Girl’s are all covered in vocoder sweetness and the music is a bit in the house genre which is cool.  This is where I would’ve wished they sped the track a little bit, but this mix is one interesting track.

 

 

Karen Girl’s debut had a lot of different flavors.  I mean you have Euro sounding original, rock version, a synth/string hybrid and a pure J-tek track.  I’m pretty sure there’s a version that someone likes.  I wanted an actual B-side but this’ll do.