Fijiya & Miyagi; named after a character from the movie The Karate Kid and a manufacturer of vinyl record players. Their second album Transparent Things is now available in New Zealand, two years after its original US release. Influenced heavily by Krautrock and 90s electronic music, Fijiya & Miyagi sound like The Rapture crossed with Can with a hint of The Virgins; a slow club dance beat sprawled with angular bass and guitar hooks that sound like a spastic art installation dancing in room full of strobes. Full of staunch electronic drums and driven by programmed electronic samples, the music pushes the upper boundaries of dance punk, at times breaking into a hypnotic trance. The best example is on ‘Conductor 71’ when the synths brave the elements, rising above the rest the instruments like some sort of kaleidoscopic angel. Title track ‘Transparent Things’ slows things down a little, bouncing along on a repetitive bass beat with equally repetitive vocals. The song runs the perfect length before jumping into ‘Sucker Punch’, a song with a similar aesthetic but with more guitars. ‘In One Ear & Out The Other’ is the best track on the album and is undeniably infectious both rhythmically and lyrically. Repeating “she’s got me wrapped around her little finger”, you get the feeling that Mick Jagger is in the room strutting about with chest pointed proudly in the air. Sadly by the time ‘Cassettesingle’ rolls around the repetitive bass line has been completely overdone and Transparent Things becomes more annoying than enjoyable. If the album was stooped at eight tracks with ‘Cylinders’ substituted for ‘Collarbone’ it would be near perfect. Nick
