Unsung: Piano

Normally I wouldn't set out to listen to a band like Piano from their description. "Alternative / Rock / Progressive" is what their myspace says, and normally when a myspace listing includes "Rock", it means rock - which I'm not a fan of. I'd listen if asked (so keep those e-mails coming in folks), but not set out to find them. However, when there's a legal element - in that one member is also an active "blawger" - I'm prepared to give it a go. And "Alternative" is always promising...

First things first - bit of background. Piano is a well known band in Japan. But still unheard of in the UK. Why Japan, perhaps Chris can explain, or maybe it's just a weird fact of life. Still, if they can sell out venues half way round the world, they're not all that bad.

And I can see why. OK, I can't stand The Intended, unless it's just intended to drive rats away from the tuneless screaming. That's not a criticism of the band, that's a criticism of the style of music. But all is not lost - that was at the end of the playlist.

Immediately before that, I was finding myself enjoying Free Association Imagery, which is much more melancholy, legato, and harmonic. Even songs like Two Wrongs don't make a right are clearly musically sound. As I'm not overly qualified to comment though, I asked a "heavier" (as in musical taste, he's actually quite small) mate to give his brief opinion:

"Hmmm, it seems pretty good.
The vocals are very Funeral For A Friend-esque, without the screaming parts. Though I can't say i'm personally a fan of their emo style of singing.
The guitar's are hooky like bands like 12 Guage Alliance and InMe.
But yeah, overall they're pretty good, and technically seem pretty together, good use of volume (I know there's a technical term for it, but it's passed me by)
I quite like it really, the drums aren't particularly ground breaking, but it works well with the style of music.
Their best song on their MySpace is probably "Home is where the heart is"."

I think that counts as praise!