Concert Review: Japanese Breakfast Serve Angst In Every Chord At MHOW

Similarly to Romes, for an opener, Japanese Breakfast felt like a a clear headliner, which they will be come Fall. Releasing their new album this week, Soft Sounds From Another Planet, every chord they strained was seeped with youthful angst. Their music was in reflection and dedication to Michelle Zauner’s many years feeling like a social outcast. From working a 9 to 5 last year or never being asked out to her high school’s Snowball dance , her performance was in celebration and mourning of not “fitting in”.
Japanese Breakfast – Machinist (Official Video)

It is double-edged sword to be socially unaccepted. On one hand, some of the greatest minds and lives have been lived separate from society; building art and relationships beyond the norms they would have to take into consideration had society saw them as “one of us”. When you are the “them” those that share sincere views of themselves and you become your human foundation; protecting and healing your spirit from what would otherwise be a harsh “alien’s life”. It is clear Zauner has felt like an “alien” in her songs and her stories. “Road Head”, “This House”, and “Boyish” build lyrical frames of a person that cannot accept their skin because no one else or not enough people accept it either. Obviously, Zauner has grown more confident and speaks of these insecurities as if she has transferred her sadness into music that released a crowd’s rage. As I looked around, everyone, simultaneously, was bobbing their head forward as if Zauner had hypnotized them to do so. She jumped, shaked, rolled her head, and hovered over her guitar as if she was in a physical fight with a demon called loneliness. As she sings and even yells notes, she shows her teeth like she is, literally, biting her lyrics. She become the champion/ defender for her younger self and the many young faces in the crowd that “knew” what she meant when she talked about feeling unfulfilled. Whether it be from work or social life, they adores Michelle Zauner because she knew what it was like to feel oddly unloved or oddly unloved your life. 
Japanese Breakfast – Road Head (Official Video)

At Music Hall Of Williamsburg, Zauner gained new fans, and did two things every artist wishes to do in their set; 1) make the audience relate to her pains and pleasures 2) make those pains and pleasures seem only apparent through her new music. She, certainly, made her July 14 record,  Soft Sounds From Another Planet, one everybody wished to buy and play when they wanted some wavy, grunge rock to relay their loneliness. For More Information On Japanese Breakfast Click Here.
Japanese Breakfast – Everybody Wants To Love You (Official Video)