Artist Focus: the pillows

One thing that can be said about the pillows is, they take themselves seriously. Avoiding two genres into which Japanese music often breaks down–bubblegum power-pop on the one hand, hyper-macho posturing on the other–the pillows have been crafting quality rock records since 1991. Which is not to say they don’t have a sense of humor, but no one could dismiss them as a novelty act; they remind me of one of my favorite Western bands, Oasis, and indeed, I always think the bridge of One Life is about to break into Don’t Look Back in Anger.

I’ve avoided mentioning this, but of course, the pillows are best known for providing FLCL’s soundtrack; and the pillow’s aching, urban hymns provide the ideal counterpart to FLCL’s sheer lunacy. Perhaps not since The Graduate have a musical act and visual enterprise been this closely intertwined. The stirring Little Busters, an anthem for the youth, is played repeatedly at crucial moments; but their best contribution (and still my favorite of their songs) has to be One Life:

Rumors that Key Studio’s new visual game Little Busters! is inspired by the pillows song of the same name remain unconfirmed by my primary source of information.

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