orbital period

Bump of Chicken became one of the best Japanese alt-rock bands of the 2000s, and the popularity they enjoyed around the time of Orbital Period's release is quite deserved. When the band is on, it's dead on: Bump of Chicken can pull out some fast songs that cross the dynamics of Pixies with the melodies of U2, they are also able to switch to a ballad that builds up from a simple acoustic line to a stomp heavenwards — and they are equally convincing in both incarnations. But Bump of Chicken are very nice guys as well, and, strangely (or perhaps not), this works against them. Orbital Period runs a full 75 minutes, including the hidden track "Believe," and this is obviously a sweet gesture to the fans, obliged to shell out a lot of money for the famously high-priced Japanese CDs. Perhaps Weezer-like brevity would, indeed, seem lazy-assed on the Japanese market (or, more likely, would just be relegated to an EP status), but stretching things for the sake of it is not a good idea. Bump of Chicken's back catalog is uneven as it is, and Orbital Period doesn't improve matters, making the listener wade through quite a bit of filler — songs that are meant to be hits, but fail to qualify, or, in some cases, require multiple listens to find out where the enjoyment lies. The mire of nice, sweet, and unremarkable material takes up much of the middle of the CD, wisely framed by stronger tracks ("Mayday" and "Supernova" in particular), but still lessening the impact of the album. In the end, instead of being an instant killer that the band could produce, Orbital Period requires some getting into — but, thankfully, it's still very rewarding after a couple of spins.