Music Review: No Cars – YOKO GOES TO BOLLYWOOD

The album gives people lots of smiles, and one can’t resist laughing, thinking ‘they are bonkers’!

Follow NO CARS (read Diverse Japan’s interview with the band) as they travel down the Silk Road to India; their journey is not an easy one as hunger, thirst, and vast amounts of tip-ex await them but it is certainly enjoyable. Luckily for us these intrepid travellers have recorded their adventures as infectious pop-punk melodies in the album YOKO GOES TO BOLLYWOOD.

These three Japanese girls and their Raccoon drummer have created a rather fun story in their latest album. It gives you the chance to imagine the quartet as they walk all the way to India, their songs “Samosa”, “Curry” and “Vanilla Rooibos” painting a pictures of Indian culture and cuisine. The five “Myths” that set up many of their songs are particularly enjoyable, as they provide the kind of amusing narrative that one would expect from an audio-book.

The album opens with the pop-punk song “Political Girl”, a quirky song about a girl having an interest in the political world around her before moving onto the band’s Bollywood adventure. The topics of the rest of the album range from the everyday (what they want to eat on their journey) to the unexpected (aka wanting to be an owl), and their ability to make any subject seem funny makes the album a hoot –sorry bad pun- all the way through.

In their song “Curry”, for example, they compare between Japanese and Indian curry as Haruna (Komatsu – vocals and guitar) wants to sing about the former while the rest of the band much prefer having the latter. The song features a catchy chant about the process of making Japanese curry, before then introducing Punjabi music to show its superiority.

As a whole, YOKO GOES TO BOLLYWOOD is a lot of fun. It features catchy songs, and explores the band’s wonderful humour. The highlight of the album has to be Tipp-ex, which focuses on the plight of the correction fluid as it struggles with an inferiority complex. It may sound like a weird topic for a song, but it makes for a charming narrative and is the most enjoyable melody.

With the album closing with the song “Yō”, which features the band singing farewell to the listener as it is time to end the NO CARS show, it’ll be interesting to see where the band decide to go next. One thing is for sure, it cannot be said that NO CARS don’t know how to have a good time with their music.

Listen to the album on Spotify

Yoko Goes to Bollywood is available to purchase on CD and cassette and as digital download from the following suppliers:

JPU Records

Amazon.co.uk 

No Cars Market

Check out No Cars’ website for further details.

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Reviewer Profile

Roxy Simons is a journalist who has been in love with all things Japanese ever since she first set her eyes on Sailor Moon at the age of five. Since then she has become fascinated with the culture, cuisine, and history of the country, and has a particular obsession with Rurouni Kenshin, Shaman King, and Bakuman. When she’s not watching things to review or playing Touken Ranbu, she can be found plotting her next trip to Japan.

Websites: www.mainichientertainment.com, www.viewofthearts.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/viewofthearts

Twitter: https://twitter.com/roxysimons

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No Cars Announce Date For Third Album Launch Party London

Interview: NO CARS Talk Samosa, Cress, And The Mystery of Yoko