In the tradition of decidely hyper, uptempo pop songs that run rampant across the Japanese airwaves once the first blast of summer-tinged air comes raging in, I present for the reviewing audience's pleasure this release by a young, up-and-coming artist known as Hayami Kishimoto. Born June 25, 1987, the bouncy, brown-haired young lady (who names some of America's most well-known song-and-dance artists -- Britney Spears, Christina Millian, Destiny's Child, etc. -- as her favorite artists) released her first single in 2003 and has since released seven more singles (with an eighth set for release next month) as well as two full-length albums.

This single, whose title takes the "insert randomly-picked character here!" thing just a bit too far, was the first release after Kishimoto's second album JUICY. Said title track (JUMP!NG↑GO☆LET'S GO⇒), however, is the perfect fit for an artist such as Kishimoto -- it's an extremely peppy, guitar-and-synth-laden, catchy-and-danceable pop number that screams to be played at ear-shattering volumes as one cruises down the highway, friends in the backseat singing along. It also doesn't take much in the way of vocal chops, performance-wise; this isn't to say that Kishimoto's not a competent vocalist, because she turns in a performance filled with a youthful zest and flair that's simply addictive. It's just that the song doesn't require her to do much but sing the melody in-key and do so without sounding bored, both of which she easily accomplishes.

Oh, and if you don't know the title of the song by the end, you're not listening hard enough. It's repeated ad nauseum!

The two coupling tracks delve slightly further into the broad spectrum of pop music with which Kishimoto has acquainted herself. Venus 18 sounds as if it's going to be "dramatic", with its "wah-wah"-y guitar-and-synthesized-string opening, but quickly transforms into a rather catchy -- if slightly bland -- pop number backed by a drum machine and synthesizers. Kishimoto gives a decent performance here, but even she sounds a bit bored by the material, which does little to break ground either stylistically or vocally. It's okay, but not much more than that.

SAY GOOD BYE GLOOMY DAYS is the longest track on the disc (at just over five minutes), and, as one might guess from the title, is another in the line of upbeat pop songs that Kishimoto's been given. It's got a clap-track, keyboards, synthesized-everything, and a bouncy, happy, upbeat melody line that's sure to chase all one's blue days away! That is, if Kishimoto's performance didn't nearly wreck the song - the instrumentation is sparse, and leaves a lot of room to be filled, which Kishimoto is, sadly, unable to do. The relative lack of instrumentation only serves to highlight the weaknesses in her voice, which is strong to a point, and said point was reached far before this song. Her voice isn't weak, only young, and can most likely be improved with age and training. The song's still catchy, and Kishimoto does the best she can with the material, but it's a little on the forgettable side.

An instrumental of the title track rounds out the disc.

Like heymrdj2k, I find it hard to recommend a disc where the balance between good-and-not-so-good tracks is so far tipped in the wrong direction. There's nothing inherently wrong with this disc, but the title track is the only one that really makes an impression (which wears thin if listened to constantly); the B-side tracks are little more than filler, in this author's opinion. Wait for an album.

Hayami Kishimoto: "JUMP!NG↑GO☆LET'S GO⇒"
[ CDS | GZCA-4037 | 1,260 yen | 2005.07.13 ]

01. JUMP!NG↑GO☆LET'S GO⇒ [ 4:17 ]
02. Venus 18 [ 4:16 ]
03. SAY GOOD BYE GLOOMY DAYS [ 5:02 ]
04. JUMP!NG↑GO☆LET'S GO⇒ ~Instrumental~ [ 4:15 ]

Recommended: No