Japanese genius James Scott (who may not actually be Japanese) recently, and with no absolutely no fanfare whatsoever, snuck this little gem out into the midst of the internet behind all our backs.

Well shame on him. Because it’s fucking ace.

This is a fuzzy, summery, haze-pop masterpiece, reminiscent of a static-smothered slice of Yo La Tengo’s lush album Summer Sun. And it’s free.

Title track Summer Sun Skateboard is about as good a song as I’ve heard from Jamie.  It hints to me that the lad has an exuberant pop masterpiece in him somewhere too and, even better, that if he were to record and release it he would do so only after fucking the shit out of it with noise and fun and exciting musical weirdness.

The rest of the EP is a tad more hazy, dreamy and downbeat than that, drifting into a reverie infused with hiss and buzz.  It barely knows whether it wants to be an experimental soundscape, glitchy electronica or lo-fi pop, and I think that’s where he’s nailed this EP so neatly.  The interplay between those elements is judged to perfection – the soundscapes soften the electronica, the electronica fucks with the pop and the pop enlivens the soundscapes, resulting in an enigmatic collection of songs which tease to perfection, but which in the end deliver with as much punch as anything I’ve heard from the Japanese War Effort so far.  Brilliant.

I wish I had a shitload of money to spend on fun, because this really needs to be released on multicoloured 10″ vinyl.

Download for free from Jamie’s Bandcamp page.

The Japanese War Effort – Face Like a Lemon (Ivor Cutler – Live on FreshAir.org.uk)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3A–6iGIW8

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Photo Credit: Tomas Hermoso