MUSIC: Riff Rain (2008)

Riff Rain
2008
School Food Punishment

If I hadn’t heard their song Futuristic Imagination for the anime Eden of the East, I would never have thought of checking out School Food Punishment. Because they’re called School Food Punishment. It makes me think of a scattered and noisy band.

I really, really wish they had picked a better name because it definitely does not suit their sound which is the beautiful mix of pop-rock and a dash of electronica resulting in post-rock.

Riff Rain is their third mini-album and all the tracks are neatly done and arranged. The piano and drum mix plus the “effects” is interesting and melodic. Coupled with Yumi Uchimura’s vocals, the songs become very easy to listen to.

The second track, Feedback, feels like an attempt at a very big arrangement but it falls short. This along with Killer are a bit on the heavy side which drifts towards pop-rock and this makes them feel a bit uninspired or uninspiring.

The more light or upbeat songs like Flow and Egoist bring out the better side of School Food Punishment. The music is better, complementing the vocals.

The song Futari Umi no Soko is a highly recommended track. It has a fairly simple arrangement, rather light, bordering on slow but is ultimately very catchy and the vocals just flows with the music very well.

FINAL RATING
[4] out of [5]