Review: Hibushibire ‘Phantom Fuzzy Exotica’
I had the utmost pleasure of watching and reviewing Osaka’s best-kept secret Hibushibire when they played at The Peer Hat in Manchester back in November 2024. I still remember being transfixed and utterly mesmerised by what I saw that evening, so much so that I bought their Official Live Bootleg Vol. 11 on vinyl of that UK tour, so I could play it back as often as I like.
The quartet are back with a new album, Phantom Fuzzy Exotica, and it builds further on their reputation for playing ‘70s hard rock songs fused with psychedelia that flow effortlessly. Their fifth studio release begins with Mandrake Oracle, as a strange mix of sounds leads you into the opening riff led by chang chang, and from here the groove just takes over your body and I’m once again transported to a utopian world.
As the band say, they ‘imagined Deep Purple playing a Pink Flod song while writing this one’ and with Tetsuji Toyoda on bass and Aoi Hama on drums keeping a spellbinding rhythm, the music reverberates around your head as there’s so much happening. Kohei Katsuma is once again at the forefront of everything, with his use of congas, theremin and percussion, as the spaghetti western-inspired Minagoroshi Western comes alive. The vocals bring the song to life as your immediate thoughts turn to deserts and cowboys on horseback, but that punchy bassline keeps coming back to remind you that this is one hell of a song that keeps on giving.
the repetitive rhythms allow the guitar and percussion to fly off in any direction…
Their love of psychedelic folk comes to the fore on Daydream Rendezvous as the soft acoustic opening is joined by the percussion and echoed vocals around the one-minute mark. It has that trippy feel to the composition, aided by a few tempo skips, but the mellow vibes continue throughout the dreamy soundscape.
They doff their collective caps to Frank Zappa with the hard psychedelic jazz rock-themed Invocation And Ritual Dance Of The Electric Nonsense as the fuzzy-edged bass kicks off what I can only describe as a crazy cacophonous jam session. It’s these sorts of songs that first captured my imagination, as the repetitive rhythms allow the guitar and percussion to fly off in any direction, which they do with such ease.
The final track, Ai Vist Lo Lop, is a rendition of a traditional Occitan folk song famously recorded by Mont-Jòia, featuring an a cappella section as the central figurehead around which the melody wraps itself. However, when they go off and explore the sound and vocals further, they take the listener on an expansive thirteen-minute journey of discovery and wonderment, drawing on all their musical talent and expertise to create a captivating song.
Label: Riot Season
Band Links: Official | Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Matthew Williams
