For Neji/Tori, their 2008 introduction to America, Tokyo's Nisennenmondai wore their influences on their track list. With songs named after the Pop Group, Sonic Youth, and This Heat, and cuts that careened from freak-out to free jazz, Neji/Tori was an explicit homage to the band's points of origin. This five-song EP, Destination Tokyo, is about where those influences may take them. Detailed and more cleanly recorded, it's as if the trio are demanding listeners move past the confrontations and comforts of post-punk talking points and pay more attention the songs. Not coincidentally, there's more here to pay attention to.
Nisennenmondai's hammer blows have been replaced with pin pricks, and each song is more lithe than lumbering. Opening track "Souzousuru Neji" sets the tone for the record: Krautrock's industrialized repetition, swatches of melody played against flutters of strangled feedback. Drummer Sayaka Himeno's hi-hat is one of the only variable elements here, loosening and tightening to suggest an imminent Neji/Tori-style eruption. Of course that never happens, no matter how many French Connection-style chase scenes Destination Tokyo evokes.
Nisennenmondai maintain grooves until they reach a sort of anxious frenzy, then move to the next buildup. For all the repetitious melodies and rhythms that form the core of the record, they don't sacrifice subtlety or surprise. They drop a barely audible bass hook into the tail end of the joyously frantic "Disco", which, whether you hear it the first time around or not, throws the perfectly balanced piece just slightly off kilter. "Mirrorball" is the record's greatest departure, a densely woven braid of guitar squeals and taps that seems to gain mass with every measure. Maybe not all the outside references are gone: "Mirrorball" especially seems to reference Battles' minimalist, churning grooves, or even Terry Riley's "A Rainbow in Curved Air". They even preview "Mirrorball" with a sped-up a cappella version of the song ("Miraabouru"), full of rhythm-keeping stomps and giggles. Part of me hopes this is how they always demo their tracks. Since Destination Toyko is the result of a single take in the studio, that may be close to the truth. But Nisennenmondai never break their songs up with the same off-kilter melodies or squeaky vocal hooks, even if that's how the songs start out. It shows an amazing amount of patience and faith in their listeners.
Last album around I thought their cloudier, dirty tracks played better than their cleaner ones. I was still more impressed with the physicality of their songs, their musicianship, rather than the songs themselves (the Marnie Stern syndrome, I think). While they're still nimble musicians, Destination Toyko paints the trio as equally exciting songwriters.
