KIKAGAKU MOYO
Kumoyo Island
GURUGURU BRAIN
8/10
Fifth and final album from the Japanese psych-rockers carefully preserves their enigma. By Sam Richards
KIKAGAKU MOYO seemed like a band going places. After initially struggling to make headway in their native country – despite tapping into a noble lineage of Japanese longhairs stretching back through Acid Mothers Temple to Happy End and Flower Travellin’ Band, Kikagaku bandleader Go Kurosawa complained to MonsterChildren.com that “most people [in Japan] don’t like this kind of thing, they like following the rules” – they’d been steadily building a worldwide following since relocating to Amsterdam in 2017. They toured with Wooden Shjips and hooked up with Ryley Walker at Le Guess Who? for a heady live improv set, released on his Husky Pants label as Deep Fried Grandeur; and last year they reached their biggest audience to date with a well-received set on the main stage at End Of The Road.
But now it’s all over. A brief statement on their website confirms that will be their final album and Kikagaku Moyo will “go on an might be seen to have achieved it is not immediately clear. In death as in life, Kikagaku Moyo remain a tantalising enigma.
