REVIEW: YOHIO - SKY☆LIMIT PV

Since the video can't be embedded, you have to watch it here.

For those of you who are as lazy with finding new bands as I am, YOHIO is part of the Swedish band Seremedy that follows the visual style, and if my sources are correct, sixteen years old. So what is this young lady doing away from her mobile phone and on our computer screens, inspiring many a why-can't-I-be-beautiful-bawling-sessions-to-my-boyfriends-Ben-and-Jerry around the world with her fairytale princess appearance?

*yes, I am aware that Yohio is really a boy.

There are two kinds of people in the world; the ones who thought of this man when they saw that cover and DIRTY LIARS.

I could have sworn that Hizaki had released a solo mini-album with a cover something like this one, in which there was an awkward song title like SISTER'S SEX. I downloaded it, and at the time, I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Nevertheless, this cover is actually directly relevant to the title of the work, unlike those of many other bands who ambiguously float in space on their debut albums, and if the cover had to bring another image to mind, you could do a lot worse than the reigning Miss Visual Kei Guitar Superstar God Master of the Universe Dammit These Pictures Do Nothing for my Self Esteem. I will say that the cover doesn't quite do justice to the adventurous nature of both the song and the MV; like I said before, the floating-in-space thing has been done a million times, and it gives the impression of an artist who isn't trying something new.

The song itself is a strong track, albeit a bit disjointed. It's in an intriguing intersection of taking uninteresting pop and uninteresting rock further by bridging them into something that is more familiar than outlandish, and yet more refreshing than deadening. It starts with a dial tone-like hook that's frustratingly easy to get stuck in your head and progresses into a pop-rock verse, then a slightly harder, faster-paced chorus in Yohio's clean bubblegum pop-boy vocals, and you get the idea. The song gradually builds on itself, morphing from one idea to the next and back every now and then. Adding to the Hizaki analogy, there is a guitar solo that I personally think works alright with the mood of the song, even if it wasn't altogether necessary, but the kid has mad skills and the right to show them off, I suppose. The problem is that while these parts are quite outstanding on their own, some haven't gelled so well together; more time could be spent on weaving all the parts to form a more cohesive whole, but somehow the rawness adds a certain catchy charm to the song that I can't explain; I like it.

The video follows in the curiously interesting fashion of the song, a strange kind of slick production that is purposefully made more, for lack of a better word, hipster. To be honest, there isn't a lot to say here; there isn't any actual plot; it's just him with a few different hairstyles and clothes, an MC Escher-esque bookcase that doesn't look very useful at all and a few artsy special effects thrown in here and there. The MV is generic and somewhat repetitive, but visually engaging enough not to be boring. Again, it brings to mind various J-rock predecessors, especially Bou Minisuka [of course, it doesn't help that their guitars look suspiciously similar]; it looks like something he would be doing if he had stuck with An Cafe, only, it's missing that half-plot, half-play thing that Bou brought to the table.

In its overall effect, no, this isn't a radically different production from what the world has seen before, but it's catchy and alright for a first attempt at solo work; it isn't going to affect your outlook on life [unlike something like Freesia by MUCC, one of my personal favorite song-video combinations made in the past few years], but those usually come from artists who've had a much longer time to mature in the industry. I would watch out for Yohio in the next five years or so.

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