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「1」

The greatness of the iconic band SCANDAL became evident four songs into the band’s July 11 set at Sony Hall in New York City. The band launched into Tomomi’s “愛の正体.”(“Ai no Shoutai,” or “Love’s True Colors”). But instead of the stately choir-supported march on the album MIRROR, the band infused the song with a manic energy. SCANDAL transformed “Ai no Shoutai” into a fiery gospel anthem worthy to be heard in a sweltering revival tent in hothouse Alabama.

The same heightened intensity was evident throughout the ninety-minute set. During Rina’s “彼女はWave,” (“She is A Wave”), the four instrumentalists threw themselves into the song with a passionate conviction that turned the funky but controlled album track into an overpowering psychedelic rave-up.

「2」

SCANDAL’s live prowess is well-documented on BluRay and DVD. Nevertheless, there is no substitute for the immediacy, impact and intimacy of seeing the band in person. Haruna is a polished frontwoman. She spoke to the crowd several times in English, before asking if it would understand if she spoke in Japanese. There were enough responses of わかり for her to switch to Japanese to tell the crowd how happy they were to be touring again, especially after not being able to tour in support of the album Kiss In The Darkness.

But all four of the women are engaging from first note to last. TOMOMI made one audience member’s life complete by taking his cell phone and filming herself and MAMI while playing. RINA always demonstrates her sparkling personality even though she is behind the drum kit for the entire show.

「3」

Guitarist MAMI is a truly enthralling performer. She jumps around, flashes heart signs with her hands to the audience, runs to the corners of the stage, all while effortlessly playing her rhythm and lead parts. It was a bit of a disappointment that the band did not perform MAMI’s showpiece 声 (Koe) (“Voice”), which is one of the greatest songs in SCANDAL’s extensive discography. MAMI did sing her deeply emotional new song “IVORY,” for which she wrote both music and lyrics. She infused “IVORY” with a wistful sense of longing:

ふわりふわり　ぼやけた視界で
探って探って　僕も手探りだよ
ゆらりゆらり　揺れる感情で
もどかしく楽しく　生きてる

Softly, softly, with blurred vision
I search and search – I too am trying to figure it all out
Swaying, swaying, with wavering emotions
Living frustratingly and happily.

「4」

SCANDAL balanced power pop bangers and mid-tempo ballads throughout the show. SCANDAL’s harder rocking songs often seem to be teetering on the edge of chaos. This sense of mayhem is even more pronounced in concert. The women performed “Shunkan Sentimental, the classic fourth ending of the epic anime Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood, a couple of beats-per-minute faster than the original version. Similarly, “A.M.D.K.J.,” performed towards the end of the set, and the first encore, “Masterpiece,” took on an air of near pandemonium. Both are from the hard-rocking 2020 album Kiss From The Darkness. The band also played the wild and chaotic “Saishheiki Kimi” from that album with a greater intensity than on the album version.

「5」

SCANDAL’s three albums prior to MIRROR –  Kiss From the Darkness (2020), Honey (2018), and Yellow (2016) – were all accomplished works. Those albums were dominated by harder rocking songs. As a result, the listener felt an immediate impact.

MIRROR, on the other hand, is an album that sneaks up on the listener. At first, MIRROR seems to be more heavily weighted to ballads than previous albums. “SPICE,” the one all-out rocker, is the last song on the album as a bonus track. “SPICE” closes MIRROR with a brutal punch to the gut.

The songs that precede “SPICE” tend to be ballads or mid-tempo songs. There are the aforementioned “彼女はWave” and “Ai no Shoutai,” which provide a break in the generally pastoral mood. But on repeated listening, one concludes that MIRROR is an impressive feat. That is because the songs are uniformly majestic. Most SCANDAL albums include at least one song that can be characterized as filler. That is not the case with MIRROR. All the songs on MIRROR contribute to the album’s cohesive spirit.

「6」

At the New York concert, SCANDAL played eight of the ten songs from the regular edition of MIRROR. Not many bands with a history as rich as SCANDAL have the confidence to focus so heavily on the most recent works. For example, when Slipknot toured in support of the 2019 album We Are Not Your Kind, they typically only performed three of the eleven full songs from that great album.

SCANDAL celebrated its 15^th anniversary in 2021. Therefore, SCANDAL are part of the initial wave of all-women rock bands that have had such a great impact in the last decade or so. But unlike their contemporaries DESTROSE, which notoriously changed members with dizzying speed, SCANDAL have remained intact for their entire existence. As a result, they demonstrate an ease on stage that comes as a result of years of touring together. Moreover, the four members display genuine chemistry among themselves. There is no feigning the joy they seem to feel at interacting with each other and their audience.

「7」

SCANDAL is one of those bands, like BAND-MAID, that experienced a quantum leap in quality when the band members began writing their own songs. The songwriting team of MAMI and RINA is responsible for most of the band’s catalog, especially the hardest rocking power pop songs. But all the members contribute quality songs. This brings diversity to the listening experience. For example, HARUNA’s song “Neon Town Escape,” from Kiss From the Darkness, has a cool vibe that is distinctly different from the songs written by MAMI and RINA.

TOMOMI has especially grown as a songwriter. She has left behind the bubble gum pop of “Pizza Party” and “Laundry Laundry” for more mature compositions such as “Ai no Shoutai” and “Living In The City.” Those are two of the standout songs on MIRROR.

「8」

Sadly, the 2022 US Tour was cut short due to illness as the insidious virus COVID-19 swept through the band and its support team. One hopes for the quick recovery of those affected, especially the women in the band.

Fans lucky enough to see SCANDAL in Toronto, New York City, Boston and Atlanta saw a band that is, remarkably, still at the height of their powers. Many bands tend to slow down with time. SCANDAL, on the other hand, are still firing on all cylinders, both in the studio and on the concert stage. SCANDAL truly represent the gold standard of Japanese rock bands, regardless of genre.

For the Japanese version of this article, please click on “Japanese” at the top of the page.

ページトップの「日本語」をクリックすると、本記事の日本語版を閲覧できます。

Illustration concept and realization by @nroe9 (Insta).