Review / 200 Words Or Less
Otoboke Beaver
Love is Short

Damnably Records (2017) Andy Armageddon

Otoboke Beaver – Love is Short cover artwork
Otoboke Beaver – Love is Short — Damnably Records, 2017

To put it mildly, Otoboke Beaver's Love is Short doesn't beat around the bush, though that phrase seems wildly inappropriate given the origin of the band's name. Following a churning title track that sets off immediately at breakneck speed and features aggressive foreign-language vocal shouts, shrieks, and howls, even -gasp- a bit of melody, the album transitions to the more playful “Introduce Me to Your Family.” Here, back-and-forth vocal outbursts between the four bandmates play out over a slick bassline, but the more relaxed and sometimes almost sugary sections are book-ended by furious guitar-driven chaos. The EP finishes off with the noise punk romp “Mean,” which rips and grinds through all of 20 seconds. Irresistibly jagged and compellingly "different," Love is Short's only downside is explained by its title: the five-minute run time is almost painfully short. That said, it's gonna be complete insanity when this energetic Japanese group, who may literally be the antithesis to the flashy and polished world of J-pop, gets around to putting together a US-release full-length.

Otoboke Beaver – Love is Short cover artwork
Otoboke Beaver – Love is Short — Damnably Records, 2017

Related news

Otoboke Beaver's Super Champon

Posted in Records on March 5, 2022

Recently-posted album reviews

Carnivorous Flower

Carnivorous Flower
Dead Broke Rekerds (2025)

There's a time to be cerebral and there's a time to tell it like it is. Carnivorous Flower lives by the latter. Their debut has 10 songs: 18 minutes in total. Each of the songs is catchy as heck and you can pretty much singalong on your first listen. It's "simple" punk with peppy energy and a lot of heart. … Read more

SUB/SHOP

Democatessen
Independent (2025)

Richmond, VA has always had a way of bending punk into something sharper and stranger, and Sub/Shop feels like a direct product of that tradition. Their EP democatessen isn’t a debut in the wide-eyed sense but a statement from musicians who’ve already spent years inside heavy, confrontational music and are now choosing precision over spectacle. Across six tracks, Sub/Shop delivers … Read more

Guerilla Teens

I Cyclops / Pride of the Savanna-7"
Heavy Medication Records (2024)

One-eyed wind-up dancing eyeballs boppin' and weavin' with Scott "Deluxe" Drake and Jeff Fieldhouse from the one and only and never replicated the almighty "The Humpers". I was lucky to see them back in the 90's in Toronto at a hot, sweaty club in the dead of summer, back when there was a blue hue of cigarette smoke, a faint … Read more