At just over 13 and a half minutes and nine songs long,
Miracle Chosuke's debut album,
The 7/8 Wonders of the World, reflects the abbreviated, volatile nature of everything having to do with the band: Before the album was released, they broke up, leaving the future of
The 7/8 Wonders of the World in jeopardy, but they re-formed before the album's release on Dim Mak. While it may be a brief album, it's long enough to show off the band's unique balance of noise, melody, and energy. Traces of
Devo,
Brainiac,
the Pixies,
Clinic, and other like-minded bands can be heard in
Miracle Chosuke's spiky guitars, squeaky vocals, offbeat time signatures, and squiggly keyboards, but they mix in so seamlessly with the band's own energy that it never feels derivative. Over the course of
The 7/8 Wonders of the World's miniature songs, the band shows a pretty impressive range, going from "Gonk"'s onomatopoeically named spazz-rock to the sped-up spy theme that is "Clap," to the pretty, instrumental closing track "Nemesis." Harsh outbursts like "Loop" are balanced by surprisingly poppy songs like "Francine" and "Do What You Pay Me For"; the latter song in particular makes one wish
Miracle Chosuke would break the two-minute barrier with their songs more often. It's possible that a lot of
The 7/8 Wonders of the World's appeal lies in the fact that even the band's longest songs are little more than tantalizing glimpses; it's also possible that if they tried to stretch their songs out any further, they'd lose their bite. Still, after hearing what there is of
The 7/8 Wonders of the World, it's hard not to want more. ~ Heather Phares