Tasting Notes: Tricot
I haven’t done one of these small spotlights on a Japanese group yet, so I figured it was finally time. Today we are talking a bit about the female-led Japanese math rock band, Tricot. Unlike my last Tasting Notes post on Boyfriend, I have some experience with the group and so this will focus more as an overview and to hopefully give you the push to check out their music. Because that’s what you already should be doing.
Tricot formed back in 2010, the members currently are:
Ikumi "Ikkyu” Nakajima – vocals, guitar (2010–present)
Motoko "Motifour" Kida – guitar, backing vocals (2010–present)
Hiromi "Hirohiro" Sagane – bass guitar, backing vocals (2010–present)
Yuusuke Yoshida – drums (2017–present)
Ikumi, Motoko, and Hiromi formed the group after playing in several other bands around Kyoto, which is also how they all met. Their first drummer left the group early on, and they spent a bit of time without a specific one till Yuusuke Yoshida moved from their touring drummer to full time in 2017.
I haven’t been listening to them for that long, maybe a few years, but I feel like ‘Pool’ might have been one of the first songs I came across from them. I know I sound like a broken record at this point, but I have to shout out to YouTube again for making that connection happen. Honestly, the majority of the music I’m exposed to is in the hands of the YouTube algorithm gods. It’s just how it goes.
I’ve been specifically focusing a lot of this downtime going through the discography of groups I like or wanted to listen to more, and Tricot’s was one that I have been focusing on a lot recently. I’ve listened to all their albums fully several times in the past but found that a lot of the time I defaulted to just playing their music videos. Which is a shame because they have a pretty solid discography that I’m missing out on. I’ve been really into it the most these days. Honestly, if I’m not listening to DAY6 or Dreamcatcher I have Tricot playing.
They’ve recorded a good bit in the ten years since forming, with four albums and several EPs. They also produce all their music (since their formation) under their own label which I think helps them have more creative freedom to their sound.
All their music is easily accessible on Spotify, as well as all their music videos (in full!) are up on their YouTube channel. They are pretty active on that channel and upload live clips from time to time, so if you find yourself liking them, I highly suggest subscribing.
You really can’t go wrong starting anywhere with their music. They put out a new album, 真っ黒, this year if you want to try something new but their debut album, T H E, is fantastic and you won’t be sorry working your way up from there. Tricot is a group where I can just leave their music playing in the background - at any point - and be fine with whatever song it shuffles to, which is honestly not always the case for a lot of the groups I listen to. I think with the amount of time I’ve been spending on them the past couple of months they are moving their way up to one of my top Japanese artists.
Here’s some articles from around that I felt were a good source from some more information. They are a little older, but they go more into the group, and go deeper into their musical style and inspirations so definitely worth a read:
I hope you give them a chance if you haven’t listened to them yet. Let me know if you do end up, I’d love to hear your thoughts!
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