Hole #106

Satellite Lovers - Sons of 1997 (1996)

This weeks hole is dedicated to Satellite Lovers, a ‘90s band based out of Tokyo, Japan, who until recently was lost to obscurity. Lost that is, until recently someone who had in their possession a few of their EPs uploaded them to YouTube. The response was immediate and refreshing - in a time where endless music can be accessed freely, it was cool to see people get hyped about a small band like this. The YouTuber was altruistic enough to share the music files and I made it available on my peer-to-peer file sharing platform of choice - Soulseek (A Hole Staple), where it quickly became my most shared album. It is interesting to think how many great albums or bands are out there and are unknown simply because no one has bothered to upload it to the internet.

Satellite Lovers belonged to a genre known as Shibuya-Kei, a kind of soft-rock-meets-pop music that was popular in the ‘90s, named after the Tokyo district where many shops would play it. Part of the genre’s appeal is its dash of kitsch - the kind of music you would expect to hear in an ‘80s commercial for a dishwasher. Bands like Love Tambourines are good examples of this sound, and Satellite Lovers no doubt got a chunk of their sound from them and similar groups. I really like how the Lovers lean in to more of a rock sound than the synthetic pop sound of the Love Tambourines. Although the grooves and dynamics are soft, the guitar tones on some songs are not unlike what you would find on a classic ‘70s rock album.

How Much I Love You, Baby is one such song, brilliantly mixed so you can hear each instrument with clarity, each part intersecting perfectly with the rest. The guitar is full and raw, providing a riff that’s just busy enough to propel the song and no more. Jun Okabe’s vocals are silky smooth and goes down your ear-holes like warm honey, starting out with spoken word that almost borders on rap, before breaking in to a wonderful swaying vocal melody for the chorus. I think part of what makes this band so good is their ability to write parts that all compliment each other so well. Each instrument is playing in a rhythm gap, so that they all intersect in this polyrhythmic way. Not in an exaggerated fashion like a prog rock band, but more subtly so that it produces a more complete and unified sound.

空へ (To the Skies) is an upbeat tune featuring another killer riff from Hiroyuki Suzuki on lead. The song is actually a collaboration with another band that is referred to on my version as simply “HV,” but I am yet work out who that is exactly. The song is built around a gorgeous vocal melody which functions as the hook while the guitar plays a matching riff half the length underneath, giving more urgency to the whole thing. The interplay is fantastic, and the laid back vocal line is elevated in drive and expression:

In the wind

Between the two of us

Within my dreams

In time

and in skies far away

I search for myself

Let’s go out to the other side.

These lines are tinged with nostalgia, evoking perhaps memories of a teenage self attempting to build an understanding of the world, staring off into the sky as they ponder their own identity.

Besides this one, there are two other recordings floating around from the same band, Sons of 1993, and Music, both worth listening to if you enjoy this one. Unfortunately the version of Sons of 1997 that was uploaded to Spotify was taken down, but at the time of writing the download was still active in the YouTube link.

Recommended Songs: How Much I Love You, Baby, 空へ

Listen: SoundCloud, YouTube

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