Alaiyakasico - WHY (Short Review)

Alaiyakasico - WHY (2024) | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (8/10 | Image: Album Cover

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Alaiyakasico is the project of incredibly-consistent madman Nashimoto Ui, who cut his teeth in the Vocaloid space for over a decade projecting deep existential angst into Miku's kitchy timbre, embodying the modern punk ethos in a scene increasingly committed to pop. While not unsuccessful, Ui's work was always destined to remain niche, or else sanitized, and with Alaiyakasico, Ui finds the boldness to stay weird.

The whole Vocaloid thing will probably always make the originals the more successful recordings (which feels strange to say having been here for a Long time), but Alayiakasico's relentless forcefulness make these far more compelling versions to me. WHY sees the trio abandon any pretense of propriety to deliver a barrage of fuzz guitar, cranked bass, hard-clipped drums and half-yarled shouts. The mix is *so* loud that it actually sounds like the safety cutoff is kicking in, leaving irregular gaps in the sonic texture.

If the originals were a letter written on printer paper and delivered in the mail, WHY is that same letter scrawled in Sharpie over a newspaper and nailed to the door. It invites the type of people who need to hear it to lock the door, crank the volume and throw manners to the wind for a half hour.