Ongaku Cafe (The ’90s): Puffy – Jet CD (1998)

The following was reviewed back in 1998

PUFFY has been one of the more interesting musical duos in Japan.  Known for their bad choreography but catchy tunes, these women don’t fit the mold of the typical mainstream Japanese female artist.  These women sport sneakers, blue jeans, t-shirts but yet managed to create their own style and have fun doing it.

With their first album released back in 1996, fans have wondered when their album containing some of their singles from 1996 and 1997 would be released on an album and sure enough, we get “JET CD”.  Definitely one my favorite albums so far of 1998.

Produced by UNICORN’s Tamio Okuda, “JET CD” is definitely an entertaining CD that PUFFY fans will be hooked on.

The album kicks off with “JET Keisatsu” (which translates to JET police), a rock driven track with hints of that Okuda style and a pretty cool

The second track “Kore ga Watashi no Ikiru Michi” is the group’s first #1 CD single from 1996 and features a Beatle-esque, late 50’s-early 60’s style of sound.  The song means “this is my way of life” and definitely a song that many people gravitated to back in ’96.

The third track is one of those weird PUFFY tracks that you tend to get and it’s called “CAKE IS LOVE” which features a synth-based track with a deep groove.

The fourth track “Ai no Shirushi” (which translates to Sign of Love) is written by Kusano Masamune of Spitz.  The track  is the group’s sixth CD single and a fun, catchy track.

The fifth track “Haru no Asa” (Morning Spring) features a slow ballad in which is piano and bass-driven that I have seen the girls performing in their concert and a song that showcases the duo’s vocals.

The sixth track “Lemon Kid” features a jazzy song written by both Ami and Yumi sporting the bass, little percussion and guitar.

The seventh track “Shoubijin” (beautiful woman) features a song written by Dr. Strangelove and Tamio Okuda.  Very dark rock track and possibly the most different track of the whole album.  Starts of dark but a very cool song.

The eighth track “Nehori-na Hahori-na” is written by Tortoise Matsumoto of THE ULFULS and was a double A-sided single along with “Mother” from 1997.  A pretty cool, catchy rock track.

The ninth track “Tetsugaku” which means philosophy features an acoustic guitar track and is sung by Ami.

The tenth track “DE RIO” is a rock track with a 70’s rock influence sung by Yumi.

The eleventh track “Circuit no Musume” is the duo’s third single and second consecutive #1 track.  I just remembered when this track came out, it was another track that seemed so out of place of what was coming out from Japan and thus, it was one of those tracks that I feel people gravitated to because it was so odd but fun to listen to.  The song features a rock track with race car’s revving in the background.

The twelfth track “Nagisa ni Matsuwaru Etcetora” is the duo’s fourth CD single and third consecutive #1 track. The duo’s Summer release and a fun, catchy track.

The thirteenth track “MOTHER” is the duo’s fifth CD single.  A song that was electric guitar driven and some could say, has a country twang but overall a track that I enjoyed for its simplicity and chorus and definitely had that Okuda Tamio/UNICORN style.

As for the insert booklet, the booklet featured pictures of both Ami and Yumi and lyrics to all songs.

Overall, if you are a PUFFY fan, this album contains plenty of duo’s hit singles from 1996-1998 and gives you a little bit of everything from the group but for the most part, catchy, addictive tracks that I found myself listening to many times over and over again.

I suppose that one of the reasons why I enjoy PUFFY so much is because they seem so anti-J-pop.  They are of course, Japanese but their music is not the typical Japanese style that you would hear from the mainstream.  But they are mainstream, the duo is seen everywhere on magazines and TV and are very much commercial but it’s a different style that people are not familiar with and thus, it caught Japan by surprise.

Evidently, their musical style has captivated Asia since the duo has made a Chinese version of their song “Kore ga Watashi no Ikiru Michi” and also have a good-sized fandom in Taiwan as well.

Overall, an awesome and long awaited album by PUFFY and an album that is worth owning!  Definitely recommended!

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For those outside of Japan, you can enjoy these songs on “THE VERY BEST OF PUFFY/amiyumi JET FEVER” available on Amazon