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Various Artists
Good Girls Don’t! NEO, 2007
Label: KOGA RECORDS
Available on Amazon!

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Like a box of chocolates …

Good Girls Don’t ! Neo is a mix bag assortment of pop and punky tunes by Japanese female fronted and all girl bands, it is one of a series of “Good Girls Don’t !” albums that were put out by the Grooovie Drunker / Koga Records label.

The CD design features a fold out booklet with band photos, contact information and production notes. The CD face is a two tone rendering of the cover art.

The tunes are sung in Japanese, English or a combination therefore of. The track list that follows is taken from the CD edition with translated titles. The song selection seems a bit random, with no unifying theme or sound.

Track list and some thoughts:

1. Bessatsu Marguerite by Scofitz, time … 2:53.
Neat girl / guy Engrish and just the right production values. Serves as a great intro to this potpourri of songs.

2. Powerless Me by Berry Roll, time … 3:10.
Powerless? No power pop! Simple, straight forward and without apologies, likely best of the lot.

3. BR by Micro Mach Machine, time … 1:50.
Fun. Cartoony vocals and sampling, but not so much as to be distracting from the tune.

4. Film by Totos, time … 2:32.
Slow beat to no where.

5. Last Knight Samurai by Napolitans, time … 3:40.
Overcooked towards the end, otherwise an enjoyable pop snack.

6. Stand At The Rooftop by Broken Doll, time … 2:09.
This is one of the best performances included here, despite the ripping riffs that nearly overwhelm the defiant yet feminine voice in this thunderous rocker.

7. Crayon by The Monmons, time … 1:50.
Get up and dance. Girl / boy vocal mix makes appealing harmony with buoyant guitars and drums.

8. Flower And The Crown by Weezie And Moelies, time … 2:13
An amiable enough day dream ditty with a nice beat and some spunk towards the end.

9. Raise A Fist by Not Loose, time … 3:47.
Punk rock and roll, a fun ride all the way, although a tad too long.

10. Bokura no Sekai by Ai Onae, time … 3:40.
A great rock intro, then tapers off and fizzles out. Seems a little dated, sounds like a non punk inspired mid-seventies tune. Hard to make it through repeat plays.

a mix bag assortment of pop and punky tunes

11. Burning Tiger, Screaming Me by Hazel Nuts Chocolate, time … 2:41.
A delightful fast paced synth-pop popsicle, sung with childlike wonder and quirky English lyrics. Yummy.

12. Down You Know I Love You So by The Margarettes, time … 2:35.
Very retro sound (think pre Beatles), girl group harmony with possible filters and definitely snappy guitar. Good Stuff.

13. C•A•N•D•Y by Stinky Rat, time … 3:46.
S•W•E•E•T!

14. Super Summer Vacation by Clan Key, time … 3:56.
Too long, but ear friendly pop, vocals high without being squeaky, satisfying guitar work. A fully developed creation.

15. Cherry Pie by Buggy Imps, time … 3:33.
All girl group with girly sexy vocals and equally sexy guitars, listed as Buggy Imps but are the Pudgy Imps.

16. Let’s Go Surfin by The Capris, time … 3:21.
Surf rock guitar with entertaining girl / guy harmony. This album of musical mishmash could use more of this type of sound.

17. Tiny Filled Hope by Teeny Frahoop, time … 2:16.
Short and to the point, a refined riot girl-ish number in English.

18. Teen’s Pop by The Cistems, time … 1:59.
A sugar rush of bouncy beat, Ramone-y guitars, and squeaky girlie lead. The male backup works well here.

19. Sakamichi by Hikarunagisa, time … 3:03.
Interesting. Somewhat more somber and adult sound than the rest of the tracks. Voice a bit muffled, runs long, but a solid conclusion to this collection.

The Takeaway:
RiceburnerFM recommends “Good Girls Don’t ! Neo”, however as noted above there are some clunkers in this compilation and too many male voices to be included in the “Good Girls Don’t” franchise.

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