3 out of 5

Label: Tip Top Recordings

Produced by: Kristian Bell

A muted mix and, perhaps, too much dedication to the “surf” part of their self described space surf music prevents Japanese Television’s EP III from really pushing over into an ultimate brew of instrumental coolness.

Surf music, in my mind, has a kind of constant forward momentum to it. Marrying that to a more fleshed out song structure proves to be a sticking point for Japanese Television, as even though these five tracks can be said to have varied moods, the general pace – and that sense of momentum, never allowing any moment to sink in – remains the same across its runtime, occasionally making it difficult to pick out individual tunes. But: the ‘space; aspect of their description is kind of how that also make that work, digging into heavy psychedelic vibes to twist the surfy bop into something a bit more open-ended and probably a bit baked, but with that surf rock keep-moving focus. It’s a weird mash-up that admittedly just sounds super cool, and EP III balances the sides really well, with the surf affectations relegated to the tone of the reverbed guitar and background splashes of effects that don’t get in the way of the forefronted melodies.

At the same time, we’re never quite allowed to get deep into the kind of indulgences that can make psychedelic music its own special experience, nor does the pace pick up to fully tap into the surf vibes. The music coasts, right on past the relatively peaks of its tunes.

The mix and recording don’t necessarily help. Whlie I really dig the kind of raw, analog vibe, the vinyl pressing (or at least mine) has a somewhat distracting bit of noise, but even if you’re going digital, excepting maybe the keys and drums on opener Bee Cage getting some shine, the high and low end of JT’s preferred sound doesn’t seem to help in bringing out those aforementioned peaks, maybe purposefully relegating the band to something you chill to and not rock out to.

It still sounds super cool, it just also feels like there’s some oomph being left on the table.