It is said that music is the universal language. From Chiba, Japan, Ellegarden crosses the Pacific to prove that the truth of this saying also extends to the genre of pop punk. After four albums released overseas, the exuberant eight-year-old foursome is set to unveil its North American debut. Ellegarden is big in Japan, and Eleven Fire Crackers shows why. The album is a catchy mix of frenetic guitar, fast beats, strong melodies, and accenting harmonies—something akin to New Found Glory, and perfect for the Warped Tour set. But what sets Ellegarden apart from the rest of the punk poseurs is its linguistic diversity. Though most of Eleven Fire Crackers’ songs are sung in English (with lyrics that are not nearly as awkward as one might expect from a multilingual band), the most interesting tracks are the ones that favor the band’s native Japanese. The first, translated as “Ash,” goes through two Japanese verses and choruses until the instrumental maelstrom breaks to reveal something of the song’s subject to English listeners in the words “My name is Jack. Just tell me you are ok.” The second, “Koukasen,” punctuates its Japanese with one English sentence to begin each chorus (“I am dreaming of a girl rocked my world”) and ends with the simple statement, “Her name is Laura.” These songs leave the listener to fill in the blanks and complete the narratives that are so expressively sung in Japanese. In doing so, they succeed over and above many in the genre.
--Frank Valish
