“True glory consists in doing what deserves to be written, in writing what deserves to be read, and in so living as to make the world happier and better for our living in it.”
With these words, Pliny the Elder conveys a sentiment that holds a very intense, very concise flame to it. With Chou-Chou Merged Syrups, we hear this intensity in what they write, in the gritty distortions of the foreground guitars bringing to mind the incessant roaring of a mischievous machine, a car long overdue for maintenance but willing to go through the daily commute taking in the gas and out the exhaust fumes, the exhaustion of its driver in traffic, the gas of his lighter and the fumes of his cigarette; while witnessing a Crash ahead.
The thundering reverbs of the background solos so characteristic of the current wave of Japanese math rock emulating the deep echo of a thunderclap from the pouring rain far out there in the green prairie blanketed by nothing but nightly darkness Before Sunrise, and sometimes, when the sheep get too scared, the far-reaching glow of the shepherd’s flashlight. Bass lines paving a very concise and structured, hammering narrative, closely followed by a set of drums in love with triplets and sixteenth notes, as if emulating droplets from the drizzle. Tying all of this together is a frantically discontent voice, protesting in units of beauty and despair only found in Japanese howls characteristic of acts like Midori and MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS.
Chou-Chou Merged Syrups is made up of Kawato Chiaki (川戸千明) in vocals/guitar, Yoshizuka Shouta (吉塚翔大) with the lead guitar, Toriishi Ryouta (鳥石遼太) in bass, and Takagaki Ryousuke (高垣良介) in drums. They started playing circa 2010/2011, their lineup has remained the same to this day and none of the band members have any side gigs or second acts to speak of, so we can conclude that this combination satisfies their need for expression and there is no other way they would rather have it.
Their first releases (only available on YouTube) include two Demos: Planaria (プラナリア) and Demo. From the former, we get the rawest iteration of this band. A sound that, like the flatworm they named the EP after, will regenerate throughout their entire discography, but with new tinges and shades. ‘Moments’ (瞬間) alternates between tender slowness and a faster paced momentum ideal for walking the streets of Japan on your daily commutes. ‘Words, Dreams’ (言葉、夢想) brings a more lucid element to the mix, this time shifting between a lullaby and a playful reggae beat.
While Planarial gives us a glimpse of the band’s playfulness with rhythm and genre, Demo brings the substance of the project upfront; The Sound of Metal from the fast-paced drums, the unresolving 7th chords and the pedal notes from the bass in the fast-starter track ‘Mirta’ (ミルタ). The palm muted, delayed arpeggio clean guitar tone we find in ‘Swim’, reminding us instantly of songs like ‘F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X.’ or ‘Sweet Disposition’ before expanding that palette with its bass into something we would hear from either 3nd or Paranoid Void before bringing us back to that backdrop constellation of delayed notes that become a Memento to whatever lies deep within the listener. Finally, ‘tmp 184’ is a promise of things to come for this band, showcasing the skills and soundscapes from both EPs. Some highlights and similar songs include:
· Chou-Chou Merged Syrups – ‘Words, Dreams’
· Chou-Chou Merged Syrups – ‘Swim’
· 3nd – ‘Clockworker’
· Paranoid Void – ‘Sekai No Hubete Ha’
· The Smile – ‘Zero Sum’
In 2013, the band released their first mini-album: Since. Proving from the first 10 seconds of ‘Hierogurifu to Asobu’ that the sonic landscape they inhabit is No Country for Old Men. Carrying the tone of bands like CONDOR44, MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS, and Melt-Banana. This record requires a certain mood or resilience to be heard front-to-back, its intensity only diminishes in very specific sections of the project, and if one is not as amped as this record is, it can easily feel like transitioning from one song to the next feels like fighting One Battle After Another. Some highlights from this record as well as similar songs include:
· Chou-Chou Merged Syrups – ‘Hierogurifu to Asobu’
· Chou-Chou Merged Syrups – ‘Neoteny’
· Chou-Chou Merged Syrups – ‘Shinchu Sassuruni’
· MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS – ‘Delusionalism’
· The Mars Volta – ‘Drunkship of Lanterns’
· Tricot – ‘Himitsu’
“Only two devices were available for time measurement in antiquity before the invention of the mechanical clock, which took place at some point in the fourteenth century AD.” Writes Pliny the Elder; he is referring to the sun dial and the water clock (also known as Clepsydra). In a similar fashion, up until 2016 we had only two major Chou-Chou Merged Syrups projects, we will now discuss the second one: Clepsydra.
Like the device it references, Clepsydra is a more robust, polished, and versatile creation than its predecessor. With an album cover reminiscing the green foliage and sparse but divinely placed flora that Andrei Tarkovski also captured in films such as: Mirror, Stalker and key moments of The Sacrifice.
We can find this image plastered into sound through the intro ‘Moon Light’, an intro that quickly takes us into the pounding ‘Shayou’. These two initial cuts are very analogous to the two initial tracks for The Mars Volta’s Deloused in the Comatorium, warning that the listener keeps on their toes from the very start. I would like to divert special attention to the next cut in this album: ‘Hakuchumuha Shiisainonai’. Like its title, this song has a lot to unpack: From its unrelenting bass providing a solid base, to the words of a fallen angel experiencing vertigo in some passages and in others sadly analyzing her Anatomy of a Fall in vocal duties. The explorations of “cool salary man in a suit” rock riffs that we would find in ‘Himitsu’ by Tricot, combined the impending pacing of drums used by Matt Tong (Bloc Party), Morgan Simpson (Black Midi), and José Pasillas (Incubus). Some highlights from this record and similar songs include:
· Chou-Chou Merged Syrups – ‘Hakuchumuha Shiisainonai’
· Chou-Chou Merged Syrups – ‘Dance And’
· Chou-Chou Merged Syrups – ‘Like Wind’
· Young the Giant – ‘St. Walker’
· Bonobo – ‘Ten Tigers’
· Danilla – ‘Junko Furuta’
Here at JP ALT Magazine, we are huge film buffs and Chou-Chou Merged Syrup seem to join us on this one! After sprinkling 12 movies I personally would love readers to become acquainted with throughout this article, we now delve into the 3rd big project from the band: Yesterday, 12 Films Later, released in 2015. With each song being its own film, cuts like ‘scapegoat_worldend’ give us a glimpse of the stylish world the characters in these movies inhabit. Sticking to more pop rock sounds, we can hear the makings of a sound later adopted by Australian band Last Dinosaurs and Canadian band Two Door Cinema Club. Other cuts would escape the world of cinema and enter anime, like ‘Akai sabaku’ (赤い砂漠) which would bring any fan still waiting for the second season of Bocchi the Rock to an oasis to replenish their hopes until Kessoku Band come back on the small screen.
The band then turned away from music until 2025, when they returned with a new EP: Until. We have yet to see if they plan a more complete release for the coming months.
Playlist:
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