Oct. 23, 2002 - Mimi Kajiru

A day after my last release and almost two years since their debut EP "Ho (Ootori)", Maximum The Hormone released their second EP "Mimi Kajiru" on October 23, 2002. Maximum the Hormone are still playing the same style of hardcore punk/nu-metal, but they are a little less raw and more polished on this new EP. Let's check it out!

The album kicks off with "Nigire!!" and Nao plays a catchy drum beat, Maximum the Ryokun sings a catchy chorus riff (albeit in Japanese so I have no idea what's going on) and he also plays some catchy guitar. They slam into a super heavy verse with some great bass by Ue-Chang, some nice heavy guitars and some great screaming vocals by Daisuke-Han. He is just belting out some great ling screams, and things also briefly break into a funky part with some faster rapping vocals by Daisuke. For a song this heavy, it's quite fucking catchy and having Japanese lyrics doesn't stop me from singing along to the catchy chorus by the end. A pretty good way to kick things off! Up next is "Johnny Tetsu Pipe" and Daisuke does some more high ralling vocals overtop another pretty cool bassline by Ue-Chang. Things ramp into a faster riff with some nice fast guitars by Ryokun and some more long screams by Daisuke. Then they break it down for a nice heavy slower part, then ramp it right back up, all in under two minutes! Track 3 is "Abara Bob" and it's driven by a fast and pretty catchy guitar riff by Ryokun and Ue-Chang and Nao add some extra oomph with a similarly catchy rhythm section. Daisuke screams a great verse and shows off his range with some high screams as well as some nice low ones. Ryokun sings a super pop-y chorus, but it's unbelievably catchy and near impossible to not tap your toe along to! It makes for a great combination and when the song ends at two and a half minutes I was more than ready for more! The next track is only a minute long and it's called "Johnny Mamamiya California". Ryokun shouts out a chorus, then the others all yell it back in this slightly joke-y sounding chorus, but when they speed things up, they really do it! We're talking thrash-level speedy guitars and some super high screams by Daisuke that sound pretty crazy! Very interesting little song and there's still no let-up so far on this EP. Track 5 is "Sanpin" and they dive right into a heavy and solid main riff with Daisuke screaming his head off right from the get-go. Ue-Chang gets a break to show off some cool bass and this song packs a lot of cool stuff into just a minute and a half! I was headbanging the whole time! Up next is "Usukimi Billy" and it's also only a minute long, bit as we've seen these guys can pack a lot of awesomeness into these small packages! This one is pretty pop-y but still very punk-y with Ryokun leading another catchy and pop-y chorus, but overtop a pretty fast punk-y riff. Track 7 is called "Nobodys" and Ryokun leads the way with a pretty cool guitar riff and sings a pop-y verse overtop. Once things shift into punk mode they sound really good with some cool bass, lots of fast guitars and some nice screaming by Daisuke. They do a great job on all the longer songs (by longer I mean a more standard 3-4 minutes instead of less than two) of combining Ryokun's pop-y singing with lots of cool hardcore punk parts. The next track is "Ningen Enpi" and Nao plays a catchy stop-and-start drum beat, Ue-Chang is playing some groovy and cool bass, Ryokun plays tons of great guitar and he and Daisuke take turns on vocals, and they both sound pretty good! All this combines for a really sweet verse and chorus and words are failing to do proper justice to all the cool stuff on this their longest song on thr EP at a whopping four minutes. Ryokun even solos at the end and this is easily the best song on the album for me, and that's really saying something with a pretty high bar across the board! Track 9 is a mere 40 seconds long and it's called "Patrol Car Moyasu". Ryokun plays some pretty catchy guitar to lead the way and he leads the repetitive verse as well  though the rest of the band is shouting along with him. The song ends with a fart and this was definitely a fun little joke song, as is the finale! The album wraps up with "Policeman Fuck" and it really should be called Policeman...Fuck! Ryokun leads the chorus, which is just shouting the name of the song over and over, and it's Nao who sings the only verse on this song and she sounds alright in this light and funny way to end the EP.

That is the end of "Mimi Kajiru" and I thought it was pretty sweet EP! Maximum The Hormone really polished up their game and aside from the two joke songs at the end they played some really catchy and awesome punk/metal! I think it's even better than "Ho (Ootori)" and that was a great EP too! Keep the good times rolling guys and gal!