3 out of 5

Label: Avex Trax

Produced by: ?

If you don’t own Kitixxxgaia, give yourself a bump in the rating, because these are all pretty great tracks. But given that 2 out of 3 are from that album, and don’t gain any new context in their appearance here, it’s hard to get too hyped up about this.

Although maybe I’d be more hyped if I was familiar with the 80s Japanese idol group whose debut single, Wedding Bell (ウエディング・ベル), is being covered by Seiko, as the comparison of the two – the original is mostly vocal, and pretty gentle; Seiko’s is respectfully docile to start, but then tosses in a lot of the artist’s flourish – is a blast, with the cover picking up speed and dropping punky beat and wild keys into the mix. Without the context, it’s a good track; with the context, it’s great.

The Kitixxxgaia tracks – ピンクメトセラ and 勹″ッと＜るSummer – are moderate tempo affairs (with that still being pretty frantic for Seiko); both solid songs that build and freak out and digress really well, but I also think these work better on album. A similar but different comment from above: on their own, they are good, not great. (…Relative to Ms. Oomori’s output overall.)