Punk

It’s a heady, dazzling blend of pop, punk, dance, funk and electronica, moulded into a swirl of kaleidoscopic energy.

Unafraid to delve into their every whim, from the accomplished to the adventurous to the absurd, CHAI are just about as now as you can get without stumbling into the unrealized.

The Nagoya-based band’s second album, PUNK, is terrifically over the top.

The lightness of PUNK isn’t toothless escapism. Rather, it’s a challenge to find sweetness, joy and individuality in a world that trends toward cynical conformity.

A joyful revolution.

With PUNK, CHAI have defied all expectations, decreeing that everybody to them is cute--and they don’t need to be.

Even though Punk might not be the pop explosion that Pink was, it's a well-rounded album that capitalizes on the band's imagination and capacity for experimentation while blending the sounds more organically. Plus, it's more fun than just about anything else going on in the late 2010s and that alone makes the record and the band worth checking out and falling (and staying madly) in love with.

Chai specialise in indie-pop confections, but lean in close and you're swept into an anarchic whirlwind. [May 2019, p.108]