Monochrome (Normal Edition) (Japan Version)

kannivalism's latest single Monochrome is perhaps the band's most mainstream-friendly release to date in terms of musical stylings, epitomizing the band's catchy, moody rock sound. The title single opens with some interesting electronic beats, before jumping into perfectly radio-friendly pop rock befitting of its anime theme song status. Underlined with nice guitar hooks and beats, this mellow, uptempo rock number doesn't offer anything that hasn't been heard before, but the soft energy and Ryo's melodious vocals make for a very agreeable track.

Side track Swing slows things down a notch for a quieter, superbly arranged rock ballad. A repeating rhythm flows through the entire song, layered slightly above the whispered vocals, creating a slightly hypnotizing effect with the quiet curling around the loud. kannivalism is basically visiting emo land with this track, and Ryo's voice is well suited for the genre, though he holds back a little too much during the climax. The band goes folksy acoustic in the wistful bonus track Tegami, which is winningly simple and straightforward.

Monochrome doesn't have the punkish, jazzy experimental elements that were sprinkled in their excellent album Nu age, but it is in line with the catchy rock and moody mid-tempo of the band's earlier 2007 singles Hoshi no Yoru and Small World. Basically, kannivalism seems to really understand the art of creating a single versus creating an entire album. An album has room for themes, asides, and strange sounds, but singles attend to two-track attention spans. While their album catered to raw edges, this single is served well done.

I'd like to also sing the praises for Monochrome's fabulous album artwork, the reason for my ill-fitting steak analogy. The three cover sleeve designs feature a pig eating cutlet, cow enjoying steak, and lamb having chops, a cheeky wink to the band's name presumably. Any CD that employs a cooking stylist must be tasty.