I may not know much about AAA, but I do know about Japanese boy/girl groups in general; basically enough to know it’s typically a waste of both my free time and interest. However, for the sake of staying informed, I took a listen to AAA’s CHOICE IS YOURS, a mini-album released in June featuring only the male members. Deeply unconcerned with the latter half of the album, I kept returning to the first two tracks, “Crash” and “Hasta la vista,” both typical pop songs but the first from a Japanese pop group that kept me coming back in some time. There is no explanation for this; the two tracks are catchy and energetic, but they lack any sort of originality (the usual synths/harmonies/requisite rap interludes). Furthermore, there’s nothing too different about the following tracks that mark any difference from the first two, keeping me bewildered and more than a little perplexed (except for the ballads, which were, of course, awful). I was almost ready to forfeit the need to ridicule this band until I saw the promotional video, which reminded me once again, why ridicule of Japanese boy/girl groups is both appropriate and necessary.
The guys emerge exhausted from some unspecified mineshaft/cave that requires tight shirts with possibly hazardous baggy pants and tools like this axe, that is apparently so heavy, it must be inappropriately held across one’s shoulder.
They know there’s more to life than looking really, really ridiculously good-looking and they plan on finding out what that is (with the special help of green screens).
The dancing is pretty alright, but the viewer is distracted when the sequences are played in front of impossible settings, that if real, would have probably killed two or more of the dancers by now.
“I think I’m getting the Black Lung, Pop. It’s not very well ventilated down there.”
“I care desperately about what I do. Do I know what product I’m selling? No. Do I know what I’m doing today? No. But I’m here, and I’m gonna’ give it my best shot.”
“Derelict is a fashion, a way of life inspired by the very homeless, the vagrants, the crack whores that make this wonderful city so unique.”
This dude is my favorite. He’s so into his rapping, forearm thrusts and stank-face expressions, I had a hard time getting a still shot.
The dancing was so fierce, it really brought the mineshaft/cave down.
About a month ago, someone left me a link to The Curse of J-pop over at Islands of Ecstasy, and while I disagree with some of the arguments he brings up (which are admittedly, well thought out and are communicated extremely effectively [dude is articulate and his other posts are just as good]), it’s videos like this that prove him right: there is sadly no irony in the video and absolutely zero acknowledgment of its ridiculous nature. But worse, I still think the song is pretty good.
Crash PV ░ [ View ]
appears 
As soon as my computer is working, I’ll check out the video 🙂