Beep!!

"Beep!!" is a song by Japanese musical act Superfly. It was released as a double A-side single along with "Sunshine Sunshine" in 2011, and was used as the theme song for the Hiroshi Shinagawa film ''Manzai Gang'' (2011).

Background and development

In March 2010, Superfly released '' Wildflower & Cover Songs: Complete Best 'Track 3''', a two-CD set featuring a four-track single and a full-length cover album of classic rock songs. It was led by the song "Wildflower", the theme song for the drama ''Gold'', and also featured "Tamashii Revolution", a song used to promote the NHK broadcast of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Both songs were commercially successful, with "Wildflower" becoming certified Platinum for downloads by the Recording Industry Association of Japan, and "Tamashii Revolution" certified platinum twice. This was followed by " Eyes on Me", a ballad single released in December used as the theme song for the Square Enix shooting game ''The 3rd Birthday''.

"Beep!!" was written before "Sunshine Sunshine". Director Hiroshi Shinagawa wanted a Superfly song similar to the "high-paced feel" of " Alright!!" (2009) for the theme song for his film ''Manzai Gang'' (2011), so asked Ochi to write the theme song. Ochi was inspired to write about feelings of change after reading the script for the film and meeting with Shinagawa. Conceptually, the song was recorded with the style of American rock band The Knack as a basis. Ochi wrote the lyrics together with musician Jam. At the time Ochi had wanted to write tender love songs such as "Eyes on Me", so had trouble mentally creating the lyrics. Together they wrote the song from the perspective of a big-sister like character, much like the lyrics of Superfly's song "Manifesto".

Promotion and release

"Beep!!" was announced as the theme song for the Hiroshi Shinagawa film ''Manzai Gang'' in late December, 2011. Superfly intended to perform "Beep!!" live at ''Music Station'' on March 11, 2011, however the program was cancelled due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

The song was released as a single also featuring Superfly's song "Sunshine Sunshine" as the other A-side. The limited edition version of the single featured an additional DVD, with a performance from the Superfly & The Lemon Bats Special Live "Rock'N'Roll Muncher", a three-date tour in November 2010 commissioned by ''Switch!'' music magazine to celebrate the magazine's 25th anniversary. The Lemon Bats are a group formed by Superfly, featuring Tatsuya Nakamura of Losalios, Kōichi Tsutaya, Kazuhiro Momo of Mo'Some Tonebender, Yoshiyuki Yatsuhashi and Hidekazu Hinata of Straightener.

Music video

A music video was produced for the song, directed by Wataru Saitō. The video begins in a bedroom set, featuring an indoor apple tree. Further scenes depict vocalist Shiho Ochi outside turning a fake pig on a spit, driving in a car surrounded by police men and her walking along train tracks. The police men are featured in later scenes shot at night, where they perform a dance routine.

Critical reception

Haruna Takekawa of ''Hot Express'' praised the song's heavy, simple riffs and edgy guitar sound, and noted Ochi's voice was powerful and full. She felt that the song had strong imagery of a woman with long hair driving wildly in a convertible. She noted that both "Sunshine Sunshine" and "Beep!!" were much more simple than her previous songs. ''CDJournal'' reviewers described the song as a "wild rock tune" centred on hard rock-style guitar riffs. They praised Superfly's vocals as "excellent" and being the heart of the song, and felt that sound developed by the intertwining drums and guitars was "thrilling". Tomoki Takahashi of ''Rockin' On Japan'' focused on the song's powerful chorus, and praised Ochi's vocals. He felt that the song showed Ochi as a strong-willed person, and was indicative of her ever-changing style of music.

Track listing

Personnel

Personnel details were sourced from the liner notes booklet of ''Mind Travel''.

*Mikio Hirama – electric guitar
*Yutaka Odawara – drums
*Shiho Ochi – lead and background vocals, tambourine
*Tokie – bass
*Yoshiyuki Yatsuhashi – electric guitar

Chart rankings

Sales

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beep
2011 singles
2011 songs
Songs written for Japanese films
Songs in Japanese
Superfly (band) songs