Ogikubo Station - 'Okinawan Love Songs' EP Review

Tracklist:

1. Would I Break My Heart Enough For You

2. Spend Some Time With Me

3. Dr Worm

The dream of Nineties Alternative Rock is alive and well. Take that phrasing with a grain of salt because I am usually the last person to engage in nineties nostalgia and this EP isn't either. Instead it feels firmly like the logical conclusion/continuation of what music sounded like when the term Indie still had a Rock attached to the end of it.

Opener “Would I Break My Heart Enough For You?” sets the tone for most of the EP with (bitter)sweet melodies and harmonies that twist their way through guitars that noodle and chime with equal measure. It recalls the classic guitar-band sound of Superchunk or The Wannadies that just sounds like you ought to be listening to it on a CD.

Singer Maura Weaver's delivery is just as confident and strong as her other work with Mixtapes and Asian Man Records head and Punk Rock mainstay Mike Park continues his long string of bringing Rock solid songwriting that churns out earworms easily. To prove I was right about the nineties thing, the release is rounded out by a cover of They Might Be Giants classic 'Dr. Worm' performed in the style of TMBG's answering machine based Dial-A-Song service, complete with the level of fidelity you'd expect. It's kind of a left turn from the other two songs on the EP but it isn't an unwelcome one.

All in all it's a short but sweet collection of songs that definitely make me hope for future releases from Ogikubo Station.