It’s the Time N’ Place for Kero Kero Bonito
December 7, 2022 • Written by Sonny Avitabile
Kero Kero Bonito (often shortened and mentioned by the group in many songs into KKB) is a British indie pop band formed by main vocalist Sarah Midori Perry, followed by producers and instrumental performances by Gus Loban and Jamie Bulled. KKB also has many solo projects and eponyms, such as Cryalot (Sarah), Kane West (Gus) and Wharf What (Jamie Bulled). Based in South London, Gus and Jamie became friends in high school, while they formed a band they looked for a third member. Putting up forums in online message boards about their interest to incorporate Japanese rap into their music, Sarah responded and they were particularly interested in her because of her bilingual ability. Sarah said it was something “she wanted to try” (The Guardian).
Working in many different genres, they started off their signature sound in hyperpop, electro pop, j-pop and synth pop while Time N’ Place shifts to focus on dream pop and indie rock. While some would label this as an intense shift in genre, I think it shows the group's maturity in branching out into new sounds.
Their sophomore album Time N’ Place opens with Outside, which brings the listener into the new universe KKB has created. Focusing on the guitar accompanied by Sarah's vocals, she opens up the album into all the unique sounds and experiences it has to offer. Segue tracks, Dear Future Self and Visiting Hours serve as the height of the production on the album, with two different stories seamlessly blending even whilst having different tempos. The whimsical quality of the lyrics and sound in Dear Future Self pair well with a hopeful tone in Visiting Hours, but this time it's hopeful for the present instead of hopeful for the future. Only Acting and Rest Stop are other tracks that create the narrative quality in the album as their own stand alone stories. Sarah's soft spoken sounds work well to create a feeling of a story being told through instruments. Lyrics such as “do cars ever fly” from Dear Future Self or “find the time to make believe” on Make Believe make the album feel like a collection of children's novels on each track. Sarah talks on KEXP on how this album was about moving on from the past of childhood. After learning her childhood home and primary school were demolished she realized “Oh wow, I can't go back to that”. They talk about how personal the project is and how the guitar sounds are inspired by hearing them growing up in the suburbs, and how these child-like stories are their way of moving forward from what has already happened.
This project offers the same upbeat nature of KKB's greatest hits such as Flamingo and Trampoline and, while they have focused on having a slower more melodic track before, it doesn't compare to the sounds of the crashing waves of Swimming and Dump that create a psychedelic feel for listeners. Sarah's singing ability really shines in Swimming, where her soft voice couples perfectly with the relaxing production. Gus and Jamie's musical engineering really shine in If I’d Known, pushing the boundaries of what indie pop can mean; referencing sounds of small toys and other everyday objects to add another level of realism to the album.
While the album is quite short standing at around 32 minutes I think it creates a sweet and short experience for fans of the group. Not a second on any track is wasted or filler, and even the parts of songs that feature electronic noise jargon for 30 seconds to a minute feel like important additions to the story of the album. In sum, this is an album for the fans. They grabbed mainstream attention through Bonito Generation, but here you can truly hear the group experimenting with their art and having a fun time doing it. This album is great for taking you on an uplifting journey that will keep you entertained; that keeps you grounded on this journey bringing you high and low at all of the right times. What they set out to attempt, they achieved. Nothing on this album feels out of place or like it has any regrets, and art without regret is hard to come by.
