PamdaVision starring Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and "Gum Gum Girl". Now streaming on Wigney+.

When I heard Kyary Pamyu Pamyu was releasing a new song, I was honestly expecting it to be some alternate version of Perfume's "Time Warp", but it's not even close. Instead Yasutaka Nakata gave Kyary a Japanesey style song in the vein of her previous three singles.

I admire the consistency that Nakata has when it comes to Kyary's music. It's certainly not something he offers Perfume, whose sound is all over the fucking place. But I'm really confused as to why after Kyary released an album titled Japamyu that Nakata really started to hanker down on giving her songs with all of these traditional Japanese sounds. It's not to say that he can't or that it's bad. It's just strange. Because songs like this "Kimi ga Iine Kuretara", "Kamaitachi" and "Gum Gum Girl" are what Japamyu needed more of to better realize its theme and hold as a concept. But maybe this is Pamyu Pamyu's sound now. 

I do like "Gum Gum Girl". But one thing I'm finding with Pussy Pam's music is that it doesn't always stand on its own these days unless it's part of a bigger context; being a theme to something or featuring in a really fun commercial. The PamdaVision music video didn't do much for me. Although it's cool to see how Kyary's visual style and fashion has transitioned from where it started. 

I can't see Kyary doing this music thing like this for much longer unless there's a step change and she finds another angle with it. It was clear from "Ponponpon" that that whole vibe had a shelf life, and now it's expired. Nothing Kyary has released over the past 5 years has been as memorable as what she put out in the first 3 years of her career.

💿 Album reviews: Japamyu | Pikapika Fantajin | Nanda Collection
📀 A Pamyu Pamyu concept album: Super Pamicom