During the month of December, when the new releases have slowed down, I enjoy going back to old artists and albums I haven’t heard in ages, along with sampling some of the heralded releases from the year prior I might have missed. While doing the latter, I was inspired to do a bit of the former.
A new compilation called Tokyo Riddim, featuring reggae-inspired J-Pop from the 1970s and 1980s, was being promoted on some social channel, and I threw on the two released tracks by Miki Hirayama. Not being fluent in Japanese, I let the vocals and lyrics wash over me for the most part, but one thing caught my ear: “Watashi Wa”. This led to a sudden job of memory: there was a band called Watashi Wa I first heard back in college, and I remember they had a song I really liked. What was that song called again…
When next able, I opened my Spotify and searched the band, and thankfully that track I loved was right at the top of Watashi Wa‘s page, “All of Me”. While the band was grouped in with the emo/pop-punk groups of the early 2000s, getting signed to Christian rock/punk record label Tooth & Nail, the group’s music always felt more like a glossy pop-rock to me (with some emo leanings in the lyrics). The shiny single “All of Me” was a perfect example.
The song’s tone is pure hope, blue skies and sunny days (the musical equivalent of the band’s album cover). The hooks and chorus swoon with frontman Seth Roberts’ cotton candy vocals casting a rainbow over everything, even as lyrics like “But then they tire you, you want to throw it away. Still everything I bleed, bleed because it’s all of me” fit it squarely in the emo scene.
This was a great track to rediscover, and even more to my surprise, Watashi Wa (mainly just Seth Roberts with a new backing band) released a new album back in 2022 after a 16 year break while Roberts recorded as Eager Seas and Lakes. You can find the new album People Like People wherever you stream music, and throwback with me to “All of Me” here!
The Indy Review 