Top ten albums of 2015, #7: PASSPO☆’s Beef or Chicken?

PASSPO☆: Beef or Chicken?

We reached peak-idol a few years ago, so why are we still clinging to groups who keep shuffling members, graduating them off, or sparking sub units in the hopes they’ll branch out into worthy successors? There’s no shortage of them, and the number only grows: they become more niche, more esoteric, and more attention-grabbing — it doesn’t get any worse than a group like LADYBABY, who combine the now-banal dichotomy of cute girls singing hard rock or metal songs, but with the added eye-sore of a masculine, bearded-wrestler wearing the same outfits and pigtails as his group mates warbling out signature death metal growls. It’s maybe why I’d like to take the time to luxuriate in Beef or Chicken?, the very-likely last great PASSPO☆ album (the first being One World). The album title is another push in the gimmicky air-hostess direction, but the songs are as hard and fun as ever. And there’s nothing so fun as lead single “HONEY DISH,” a combo hard rock-and-girl-pop number whose overwhelming sweet tooth is balanced out by the heavy guitars. The rest of the album is classic PASSPO☆: gritty rock and make-no-mistakes-about-it metal. The group is signed to a major label, so skilled session musicians and writers are at their disposal to conjure the retro Americana diner of the album jackets without sacrificing the sound we’re used to. It offers something of a varied menu, like the touch of Southern rock in “Itazura Rock n’ Roll,” grungy metal in “Not in theory,” and a softer glow on “Shiny Road.” All the signature speed and energy of the group is there, despite this being the shortest PASSPO☆ album to date. Following this amazing release in May, the group took a (relatively) long hiatus, after which they announced both a graduation and a label change to Nippon Crown at the end of the year. So long and goodnight PASSPO☆?