Tiny Bubbles
(Taishita) Used CD $30.00
Originally released in 1980, “Tiny Bubbles captures Southern All Stars at the moment right before they became one of the most famed and influential Japanese acts ever…. Which is kind of surprising considering just how weird Southern All Stars sound on their third album…. [It] may not be a crazy piece of experimental art, but they jump from balladry to reggae-tinged to outright Broadway musical. It can be a confusing listen…, [but they masterfully] push J-Pop into stranger places all while sounding completely normal.… ‘Hey! Ryudo!’ [is] an honest-to-goodness stab at musical theater, complete with ragtime horns and a tap dancing interlude…. The most critical element [of the album] is Kuwata’s singing style. It’s a throaty, twisty thing capable of drawing out lyrics and also shooting them out at rapid-fire, like a burned-out lounge singer who tries pop…. It’s both the most unorthodox part of Southern All Stars but also the part responsible for them truly standing out…. Tiny Bubbles is a strange, catchy album…, the perfect showcase of all the little oddities that turned Southern All Stars into what they are today." 1989 reissue.