To me this record is quite a surprise. I’m not the biggest Kung-Fu records fan, as I find al their bands very reminiscent to each other and pretty unoriginal. Ad to that: the most Kung-Fu bands are only capable to write poppy punk anthems, with some catchiness and a high school power. Many people like it this way; to me it’s more of a nice exception of what I’m mostly listening to.

Ozma is different. I heard two songs of them already on the Kung-fu compilation called “Punk rock is your friend” and I only found their contributions mediocre. This record however is different. It’s still pop punk; it’s still well produced easy listening music and contains those typical pop punk / emo vocals. This all sounds so cliché, yet Ozma has found a way to make an original whole by using elements from other genres in music. I love it when bands experiment with their sound and that’s exactly what Ozma has done. Just check the cover booklet; they seem to have a different lineup on every song. Synths, cellos, organs, pianos, violins, name an instrument; I’m sure it’s on this disc.

Enough for the praising words for a moment. This record also has some weak parts. Some songs are brought to laid back and to cheesy. For example “Utsukushii Shibuya”(how does one comes up with a name like that?) is a slow going pop punk track with the cheesy vocal lines “I love you so” dominating the song. Excuse me, but I find that very irritating. Hearing cliché lyrics on a perfectly worked out cd is probably even more irritating than hearing those on a cd that’s cliché as a whole. There are a few more songs like that on the record, but overall this record is excellent. It’s soft and very calm and features great vocal harmonies. Mostly not my thing but I really enjoyed all of that this time.
Another thing I like about this record is the fact that Ozma knows how to please their fans. 50 minutes of music, two exclusive versions of songs on this record as mp3’s and some behind the scene footage; what more do you need?

Altogether a well worked out record with lots of extras. I enjoyed this although I didn’t think it would be my thing. It’s really soft and easylistening music but gets pretty catchy from time to time. My favorites are “Spending time”, “Come home Andrea” and especially “Bad dogs”. If you’re looking for somewhat more original sounding pop punk this is definitely something to check out.