''Punk'' (stylized in all caps) is the second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by Japanese band Chai. The album was released on February 13, 2019, by Otemoyan Records. It was released on March 15, 2019, in North America and Europe by Burger Records and Heavenly Recordings, respectively.

Composition

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's Tim Sendra felt the record left some of the rap rock influences prominent on ''

PINK Pink is a pale tint of red, the color of the Dianthus plumarius, pink flower. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, p ...

'' behind in exchange for more pop-oriented stylings. Indeed, ''PUNK'' dives into several pop-based genres from bubblegum to indie to

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

. Kicking off the record is "Choose Go!", a "punchy" piece of " cheerleader rock", that features " synths that churn like vacuum cleaners." Following is "the pulsing electronic pop" of "Great Job". "Wintime" is " Paramore-plucked, rose-tinted tropic- pop". "This Is Chai", the record's only song to have its writing credited to all four members, has been called everything from

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

to Europop to "happily corny handbag

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

". "Fashionista", along with "This is CHAI", "has some seriously infectious funk woven into its DNA". "Curly Adventure" is a "

ballad" that "throw heavy metal guitar grind" into its mix.

Accolades

Tracks

Accompanying music video

In 2019, a music video for the eighth track (''Curly Adventure'') was directed by Sean Solomon, using character designs from band member and visual director Yuuki, in which the video picks a load of eccentric (and surreal)scenes with vibrant colours with the simplistic style of the album's cover, inspired by '' Peanuts'' characters and the hyper-stylized Hanna-Barbera cartoons of the 1970s. The additional credits in the video are storyboards drawn by Evan Red Borja and animation by Sarah Schmidt and Ian Ballantyne.

Track listing

All music by Mana and Kana, except where noted. All lyrics by Yuuki, except where noted.

Personnel

Chai * Kana – vocals, guitar * Mana – vocals, keyboards * Yuuki – bass guitar, chorus * Yuna – drums, chorus

Charts

Use in other media

A song from the album, "This Is Chai", was featured prominently in an episode of the American television series '' Better Call Saul'' in 2020.

References

{{Authority control 2019 albums Chai (band) albums Heavenly Recordings albums