F.size.free Music Review

Written by guest writer Dotta.

Charisma-
Right from the opening of “Charisma”, you can tell it’s going to be a fun song. Anything that puts me in mind of the band “Savage Garden” with a distinctly Asian flavor to it is going to have my musical tastes in its’ corner. Especially entertaining is the fast-paced guitar riff-- which is gives it that “Asian flavor” I mentioned-- that pops up now and again throughout the song, which I found to be a delightful touchstone. The vocals were solid and sung with enough heart that it makes this one of the rare cases I actually want to track down the lyrics to find out, exactly, they were singing about.

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Baby and Hunter-
At first, I wasn’t quite sure what the expect from a song called “Baby and Hunter”, but was glad to find it’s a surprisingly solid piece of music. Its biggest strong point is the contrast of the techno-pop type music found in the opening to the rock based tunes that make up most of the rest of the song. The vocals do seem a bit muffled, or at least drowned out by the music, though that’s probably not of much concern to the non-Japanese-speaking listener. “Baby and Hunter” may not have anything that overwhelmingly stands out to me, but it is definitely a sturdy and robust song that’s very enjoyable.

Complex-
“Complex” is probably my least favorite of the songs, though it’s by no means bad. The vocals are fine and the beat, something F.size.free really seems to excel with, is good. It’s also got a bit of really great guitar play towards the end, which I ended up listening to again and again, as it’s definitely the best part of “Complex”. The biggest issue I had with the song was the high-pitched techno-beat accompaniment in the background that was, to me, the equivalent of a musical strobe light going off in my eyes. It was far too distracting to be able to able to tune out, even though the parts of the song without it were actually very lovely.

Show Time-
“Show Time” is a fast-paced piece that makes you want to get up and move around. It’s exciting and fun and really gets your blood pumping. The vocals, guitar, and drums are all crisp and they are weaved together beautifully, with none of them overpowering the others. The bridge is probably the best example of that and is my favorite part of the song because of it. As a whole, it’s definitely got enough musical variation, twists, and turns to make it stand out from all the others.

Small Party-
“Small Party” is probably my favorite and the most evolved sounding of all the songs, with “Show Time” being a possible exception. The opening is fantastic and there’s great guitar work throughout the entire thing. More than any of the other songs, the elements of this one, especially the vocals, work together to make it very forceful and a pleasure to hear. It also seems to be the most polished of the pieces I listened to and an example of not only what sets “Small Party” apart from the others, but also the kind of song that highlights the difference between F.size.free and their peers.

 F.size.free on the web:
F.size.free Profile at Kanzen ni JRock
Official Myspace
Official YouTube Channel
Official US Street Team