Candy Kiss - Tinker Bell ga Yattekita

So this is the release that made me curious about this group. They seem to have changed so much since this release. There's only three girls left.

The lead song for this single is Tinker Bell ga Yattekita. Like I said for their first release, I don't think their music is particularly the greatest, but they're so adorable. Of all of their songs so far, this is probably my favorite. The music itself sounds well produced & put together, but just like with their first single, the autotune is WAY overdone. Worse than what T-Pain did. I'm not certain why low budget indie groups tend to overdo the autotune because I've noticed it's also a feature in super unknown Kpop groups too. Is it more expensive to NOT use it? I'm genuinely curious. Beyond the autotune, it's a pretty standard idol pop song but it's kinda catchy. The music video is obviously low budget, but it's so cute. The girls look like they're having so much fun. 4/5.

The B-side of the single is Mou Ichido. If you thought that the autotune was unnecessary on the title track, it's even more unnecessary here. No ballad needs this. I don't think that the producers were going for a Perfume-esque sound. If they were they totally missed the mark. I find it very interesting that this has a music video. If a super unknown group can do a B-side video (even if it is mainly concert footage & practice), H!P you can stop the triple A-side crap & just give B-sides videos. Gosh. 3/5.

In all honesty, I don't think this single's that great. I personally think it's cute which is why I like it, but if you're looking for something like 48G or H!P this is not it. I do say that it's worth checking out, especially if you're looking into indie idols. Maybe you won't like it, but there always is the possibility that you will. 3.5/5.

Candy Kiss - Koisuru Candy Kiss

So this was an impulse purchase from CDJapan because I don't like ordering just one CD at a time lol. I first heard of Candy Kiss on Hello! Online (I think...it's been awhile). Someone posted their Tinker Bell video and I thought it was cute so I decided to keep tabs on them. Chose to buy this single first because it's their first one and might as well start from the beginning.

If you've never heard of Candy Kiss, they are a three member group currently and are set to release their first album in July. At the time of this single's release, they had six members. If you want to know more you can check out this site: Candy Kiss

. It's really well put together and gives more information than I know off the top of my head.

The title track is Koisuru Candy Kiss. So the song is autotuned to death (not sure if it was fully intentional like a Perfume thing or not), but it's kind of cute. At least the company it trying something different. It actually reminds me a lot of the really indie K-pop groups except with young Japanese vocals. It's not a song I'd actively recommend because it's really not that great, but it's a good guilty pleasure type of song. I like that instead of going the generic idol route, they're kind of doing a slightly EDM, Perfume-y, bright pop song. Again, not great, but refreshing after hearing a bazillion other indie idols going for the generic songs. The music video is so adorably low budget. The dance shot outfits are kind of ugly though...they remind me of something a toddler would wear. 3.5/5.

The single's B-side is Nee...Suki. Another song that is autotuned to death, but it has a really funky sound to it that reminds me of a more indie Galette. I don't find this one as entertaining as the title track, but again it's something different than the usual. I like how it has an electro undertone in the song. In this song, more so than the title track, it seems that they were going for the Perfume route. I can't remember what their newer songs sound like at the moment, but I think that if they kept up with this style it would sound better with older vocals. This was 2012 & I'm pretty sure that the girls were super young at the time of this release. 3/5.

Nee Suki (Audio)

Yes. This super indie Japanese idol group is on Spotify. It shocked me too when I saw it.

Even though this release isn't the greatest thing out there, it's still kind of cute. Tinker Bell is better (and I'll feature it once I receive the CD), but for a really young group (at the time), it's something different. 3/5.