Review

‘Quintessentially English Krautrock’ is probably an enormous contradiction in terms, but it has thus far been an apt description of Brighton’s Fujiya & Miyagi, now on their third album. No longer. Where 2006’s breakthrough album Transparent Things featured a host of motorik tracks, including two lengthy Neu!-inspired instrumentals, here the focus is more on the whimsical, pop side of the band. Whispering frontman David Best peppers these robotic pop nuggets with curious references to popular culture and everyday life. “Vanilla, strawberry, knickerbocker glory / I saw the ghost of Lena Zavaroni” goes the chorus of nonsensical lead single ‘Knickerbocker’. An avowed fan of Robert Wyatt, Syd Barrett and Serge Gainsbourg, Best’s witty lyrical vignettes are couched in stiff funk (‘Uh’), plaintive melody (‘Goosebumps’) and, throughout the record, warm, vintage synthesisers. Lightbulbs is no great leap forward after the wonderful Transparent Things, but you could argue that it is a refinement of that sound. Fujiya & Miyagi are masters of odd British pop, and it’s about time they were recognised as such. Chris Jones

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DOWNLOAD: ‘KNICKERBOCKER’, ‘GOOSEBUMPS’, ‘PTERODACTYLS’.
FOR FANS OF: HOT CHIP, TALKING HEADS.

Posted on: 27th January 2010

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