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LITE has consistently been one of the more satisfying proponents of Japanese math rock, and one of the more interesting aspects of the band is that their albums don’t always have the same flavor. Their 2006 release, Filmlets, might be brushed aside as a relatively conventional demonstration of the form, if such a description could be apt. Clean guitars, angular melodies, time and rhythm changes— the basic elements that one comes to expect from Japanese math rock in its straightforward version. Yet LITE will tend to give the audience something else, if a bit of extra attention is given. On Filmlets, that something else is subtle, but effective, and it comes in the stylistic references.
Math rock tends to reach back to the more progressive sounds of earlier generations of rock, and depending on the band, that means anything from Magma to Zappa or King Crimson. Those are your basic touchstones, with the zuehl side of Japanese math rock going heavy for Magma. Yet that’s not quite LITE’s style, and on Filmlets, the reference points are to more familiar elements of the classic rock canon. Almost psychedelic in places, LITE sounds as though they are combining the developing sounds of progressive music in their own scene with what your average classic rock fan would find soothing and comforting. More Pink Floyd than King Crimson in its reference to classic rock, there is elegance to Filmlets, and a kind of olive branch to the conventional rock fan in a way that the zuehl side does not often offer. On other albums, LITE can be more experimental, playing around with subtle electronics, funk or R&B, or engaging in other methods to keep the form interesting because this is a group of highly skilled artists who refuse to play a form without putting a stamp on it. Yet on Filmlets, they do so in such an inviting way that, like Covet or Chon, they reach out to the non-math rock crowd in a way that offers to build a bridge through common reference points. After all, the sonic reference points to classic and psychedelic rock beyond the experimental influences normally heard in Japanese progressive rock just make the album sound warm.
That description runs the risk of turning away some fans who look for the most exciting and different of progressive rock, and to be sure, Filmlets is not the most exploratory work in the genre. Be warned. Anyone looking for an album that pushes boundaries, this is not it. LITE keeps the music about as close to coloring within the lines as such a band can. Yet, their precision and artistry should be sufficient to warrant at least a couple of listens from even the most jaded of fans. Exploratory? Not as such, but as skilled as it gets, and there is much to be said for bridge-building music.
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Somebody of no consequence
Japanese math rock with wide appeal
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