Fujiya & Miyagi - Ventriloquizzing

Any album that proclaims to be influenced by ventriloquist’s dummies whilst leaving you “foaming at the mouth” does not create the most appealing of centrepieces at first glance. And this certainly turns out to be the case for Brighton, England’s Fujiya & Miyagi with the release of their fourth long-player, the appropriately titled ‘Ventriloquizzing’. Here, the four-piece attempt to implement elements of Krautrock with simmering electronic rhythms but unfortunately it never really gets off the ground at any stage of its 40-minute duration.

The band chose producer Thom Monahan to look after the switches on ‘Ventriloquizzing’; it bears an interesting decision, as Monahan has previously created more folkier compilations with the likes of Devendra Banhart and The Silver Jews. So you can’t knock the band for working outside of their temporal zone in this sense. However, it is hard to feel Monahan’s influence in full force, which is probably inopportune of the band considering how perhaps more folk stylings may have enhanced these tracks.

There are a number of things to be critical of here, but possibly the most endearing aspect of ‘Ventriloquizzing’ lies in the vocal projection of David Best. With Best, there lacks any genuine attempt to be competent in what he, or the band, is endeavouring to convey with each song. Yes, there may be some appeal in remaining low-key and trying to develop a sound that is alternative by nature. But the majority of these 11 tracks border on being jokes, although I am positive there will be some indie folk that would look to find legitimate meanings behind these compositions.

It is clear that Fujiya & Miyagi are looking to depict some sort of puppetry theme with ‘Ventriloquizzing’, almost in a concept album-like manner. The title track, along with ‘Yoyo’, show this sense of being taken over by another power in the lyrics, yet they are not strong enough to really punch home the premise, leaving the band floating in the middle of musical nothingness. Then there’s other tracks like ‘Tinsel & Glitter’, of which Best “coolly” implies “a pair of stilettos, can hit the high notes” and “a pair of red shoes, can sing the blues”, constantly making it difficult to decipher any lyrical code, and you can only try so hard to do so before becoming completely withdrawn and detached from the lyricist.

The disappointing thing here is, some of the sound-scapes being created on ‘Ventriloquizzing’ are actually bearable inflections, with the band having good ears for creating an uncomplicated mix of smooth electronic grooves and flourishes of fuzzed-out blues rock. Yet this sound is mostly masked by a completely inept vocal and lyrical attempt; perhaps to think of the medium between the Pet Shop Boys, The Bedroom Philosopher and Flight of the Conchords would not be too far away from what is going on here. This is not necessarily an indictment on the band, who are well into their career by now, but more so on the album itself. It is one that has the potential to kick off, yet fails to pro-create any foam from the inner-reachings of one’s mouth.