The Japanese twee-pop outfit the Penelopes was essentially the work of
singer/songwriter Tatsuhiko Watanabe.`s formative influences, musical
antecedents can be limiting or liberating, a rote formula to follow or a
fertile field to nurture and see what might come up. In the case of
Hyogo-based singer/guitarist Tatsuhiko Watanabe, mastermind of the
Penelopes, what he`s heard and it`s evident from the band`s first two
albums that he`s traveled widely in pop style circles, from early 80`s pop,
Merseybeat, Monkees, the Who, Roy Orbison and Neil Diamond to the Style
Council, Elvis Costello, Edwyn Collins and the Smiths is simply essential
creative nutrition, the raw materials to be processed and recombined for his
sweetly rendered social and political commentaries.
In Watanabe, Japan has its first great Western indie-pop auteur, an
eccentric as capable of conjuring up `60s AM radio delectability as serious
`90s alternapop. Contrary to the prevailing noise/kitsch/garage/punk genre
winds blowing across the Pacific, the Penelopes strike up breezy guitar
chords at easy tempos, arranging catchy melodies into lush harmonies (the
vocals are in English, with a perceptible but unobtrusive accent); keyboards
top it all off, shaping Watanabe`s easy travels through numerous
Anglo-American idioms."-TrouserPress. " Methinks Tatsuhiko Watanabe
has clearly been listening to some great sixties sunshine and eighties pop.
Watanabe does the songwriting, guitar, vocals, keyboards and programming for
Japanese band The Penelopes, which also features Chigusa Mitata on bass.
Their new album Summerdew Avanue is the second in a four-CD series of
seasonal tributes and features a very upbeat pop sensibility. The music is
sweet and jangly with lots of reverb. Watanabes voice on some songs sounds
like Roy Orbison. For fans of Japanese-indie-pop."-LeftHip.com.
 1983 - mp3
Magic - mp3
Melt The Snow - mp3
Nondisclosure - mp3
That`s Why - mp3 | 
