葉緑体クラブ is adding plenty of sweetness to their prickly sound, showing potential as a great off-kilter pop band.

葉緑体クラブ (Chloroplast Club) is back, but we’re still no closer to learning about what exactly a chloroplast club might be. Questions abound: are people allowed to join or merely plants? Are the band members in the club, or are they just reporting on it? Or better yet, perhaps it is not a club like the chess club at all; could it be a dance club for the well-chloroplasted?

The mystery remains, but the band continues down the path of carving out their own secret world. While there is a fine tradition of math-y indie rock bands, Chloroplast club has always fallen more towards the spectrum of hyper-active indie poppers than Calculus via fretboard. The first track “何故か” (“Why?”) dials down the complexity to the point that what we have is a lovely pop ballad, albeit one played with with wide open suspended chords. Most unexpected of all, it comes with … a steady beat. Touches like the subtle backing vocals on the chorus show the band coming into it’s pop own.

The second song, “デタラメな生活” (“Lonely Life”) gets a bit closer to business as usual for the Club. Scratchy guitars play a catchy rhythm over a brisk and busy beat. The band does get to show off its impressive chops in the exploratory bridge section. Despite being called “Lonely Life”, the result is something that will get you dancing around your plant-filled living room much more than moping in the dark.

Over time, the Club has been honing its pop instincts. While I wouldn’t want them to ever give up their musicianship or their prickliness, these tracks show that the band has a brilliant future as an off-kilter pop band.