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Bonito Generation
Studio album by Kero Kero Bonito
Released	21 October 2016 (2016-10-21)
Genre	Electropop J-pop synth-pop
Length	36:22
Language	English Japanese
Label	Double Denim Around the World Polyvinyl Record Co.
Producer	Gus Lobban Jamie Bulled
Kero Kero Bonito chronology
Intro Bonito (2013) Bonito Generation (2016) TOTEP (2018)
Singles from Bonito Generation
"Picture This" Released: 10 March 2015 "Lipslap" Released: 23 February 2016 "Break" Released: 13 June 2016 "Graduation" Released: 23 August 2016 "Trampoline" Released: 26 September 2016 "Fish Bowl" Released: 8 September 2017

Bonito Generation is the debut studio album by British indie pop band Kero Kero Bonito. A follow-up to the 2013 mixtape, Intro Bonito, this album was released via Double Denim Records on 21 October 2016. Bonito Generation produced six singles: "Picture This", "Lipslap", "Break", "Graduation", "Trampoline", and "Fish Bowl" (the song "Forever Summer Holiday", initially released as its own single in 2017, was later included as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of the album). Music videos were created for "Lipslap", "Break", and "Trampoline".

Production

Background

In 2011, the producers and multi-instrumentalists Gus Lobban and Jamie Bulled posted an advertisement to MixB (an online bulletin board for Japanese expatriates) seeking a musician interested in "Japanese rap". One of the first respondents was Sarah Midori Perry; Lobban and Bulled were intrigued by Perry's artistic background and her fluency in both English and Japanese, and the three agreed to form a band that they dubbed "Kero Kero Bonito". After a string of singles, the group released their debut mixtape, Intro Bonito through Double Denim Records in August 2014.

Writing and recording

Following the release of Intro Bonito, Kero Kero Bonito began working on their debut studio album, which they intended to release in 2015. The band wanted this release to be "a bit more songwriter-y, rather than just disjointed basslines and riffs", and they had hoped to collaborate with underground pop musicians, such as the producers affiliated with the PC Music art collective. By October of 2015, however, the album had not yet materialized, and the band disclosed to Stereogum journalist James Rettig that they were still "figuring out what kind of statement they wanted to make" with the record.

When conceptualizing the record, the members of Kero Kero Bonito placed great care on ensuring that the recorded had "flow" and that "all the right elements in the right places". In an interview with DIY magazine, Lobban likened this challenge to solving a tiling puzzle: "You start off with a few pieces, and think 'oh that’s the corner', and 'that's this guy's hand', and then as you come up with more things, and end up only needing one more piece that looks kind of like this. It's very much like a jigsaw, actually."

Bonito Generation was completed at the beginning of August 2016, having been in the works for over a year.

Composition

Bonito Generation has been described to be an electropop, J-pop, and synth-pop record, with influences from electro, dancehall, video game music, '90s dance, hip hop, and K-pop. It has also been compared to the hyperpop sounds of PC Music and Sophie. Themes of the record also touch upon Instagram, hearing a catchy song on the radio, trampolines, waking up, childlike perspective upon day-to-day existential crises, and the curiosity of youth.

Commercial performance

Bonito Generation was released on 21 October 2016 by Double Denim Records, whereupon it peaked at number nine on the US World Albums Chart (Billboard). On 12 July 2017, Bonito Generation was released for the Japanese market by the Sony Music Entertainment Japan subsidiary label Around the World. Following the band's signing to Polyvinyl Record Co., Bonito Generation was re-issued on 11 January 2019, whereupon it peaked at number 15 on the US Vinyl Albums Chart (Billboard).

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.4/10
Metacritic	81/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Clash	9/10
DIY
The Guardian
Tiny Mix Tapes

Bonito Generation was met with positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the release has an average score of 81 based on seven reviews, meaning that it has received "universal acclaim". Fellow music aggregator AnyDecentMusic? likewise gave the album an average score of 7.4/10, based on eight reviews.

Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Heather Phares wrote, "Packed with breezy, witty, should-be hits, Bonito Generation is a winning mix of subversive art and genuine heart." Joe Rivers of Clash stated, "The production is disarmingly joyous and, thanks to a predilection for early '90s dance, some of the tracks here are absolute bangers." Jamie Milton of DIY magazine opined that the band had "perfected the quick fix formula" with the album, which included "a dozen giant would-be singles". While Milton wrote that the album "crams together a bunch of massive singles, melted into a sometimes grating dose of glucose," the review concluded that "that's the compromise for penning twelve monster hits." Milton also complimented the band for not "taking the piss" with the album and instead earnestly embracing their act.

Kate Hutchinson of The Guardian wrote that "Their no-fat nuggets have the hyper-slickness of kawaii J-pop, while harking back to an era (the 90s, obv) when high-concept chart hits were as ubiquitous as boy bands' curtains". However, she noted, "Their songs are best when they stop being so satirically cutesy and zip somewhere else."

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Bonito Generation.

Charts

Release history

References

1. "Kero Kero Bonito – Fish Bowl (September 2017)". Vinyl Postcard Record Club. 2017. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
2. ^ Gaca, Anna (14 October 2016). "New Music: Kero Kero Bonito – Bonito Generation". Spin. Archived from the original on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
3. Hunt, El (7 March 2016). "Sick beat: Kero Kero Bonito get their sitcom hats on in 'Lipslap' video". DIY. Archived from the original on 16 March 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
4. Brodsky, Rachel (13 June 2016). "Kero Kero Bonito Take a Much-Deserved 'Break' in New Video". Spin. Archived from the original on 23 October 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
5. Gotrich, Lars (25 October 2016). "Is Life A Total Bore? Jump On Kero Kero Bonito's 'Trampoline'". NPR. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
6. Song, Sandra (16 September 2014). "Going Global with Kero Kero Bonito". Impose. Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
7. Bulut, Selim (29 August 2014). "Next: Kero Kero Bonito". Dummy. Archived from the original on 1 September 2014.
8. Raymer, Miles (13 August 2014). "Get hooked on Kero Kero Bonito's 'Sick Beat'". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
9. McDermott, Patrick D. (2 September 2014). "Hear London Producer bo en's Cutely Delirious Remix of Kero Kero Bonito". The Fader. Archived from the original on 6 February 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
10. Lismore, Kate (13 February 2015). "Kero Kero Bonito: trading mp3s for sick beats". DIY. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
11. "Next: Kero Kero Bonito". Dummy Mag. 29 August 2014. Archived from the original on 16 June 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
12. ^ Rettig, James (20 October 2016). "Kero Kero Bonito's Radical Positivity Pop". Stereogum. Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
13. ^ Richards, Will (19 October 2016). "My Generation: Kero Kero Bonito". DIY. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
14. Pearis, Bill (14 October 2016). "listen to Kero Kero Bonito's new LP Bonito Generation; Ice Choir and Skylar Spence opening NYC show". BrooklynVegan. Archived from the original on 14 July 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
15. ^ Rivers, Joe (27 October 2016). "Kero Kero Bonito – Bonito Generation". Clash. Archived from the original on 6 January 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
16. Farrell, Margaret (16 October 2018). "Kero Kero Bonito: Time 'n' Place". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 3 November 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
17. ^ Jacobs, Mick (27 June 2021). "Review: Kero Kero Bonito, Bonito Graduation". Pretty Much Amazing. Archived from the original on 30 January 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
18. ^ Hutchinson, Kate (20 October 2016). "Kero Kero Bonito: Bonito Generation review – no-fat nuggets of schoolyard dancehall". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 27 January 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
19. ^ Milton, Jamie (20 October 2016). "Kero Kero Bonito – Bonito Generation". DIY. Archived from the original on 21 October 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
20. ^ Phares, Heather. "Bonito Generation – Kero Kero Bonito". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 27 January 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
21. ^ "Kero Kero Bonito – World Albums". Billboard. Archived from the original on 1 February 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
22. ^ インターナショナルTANOSHIIサウンドのイギリス3人組Kero Kero Bonito、ソニーミュージックから7/12デビューアルバムリリース＆サマソニ出演決定！ [British trio of international TANOSHII sound, Kero Kero Bonito, 7/12 debut album release from Sony Music & Summer Sonic appearance!] (in Japanese). Sony Music Entertainment Japan. 19 May 2017. Archived from the original on 23 June 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
23. "Bonito Generation by Kero Kero Bonito". Rough Trade. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
24. ^ "Kero Kero Bonito – Vinyl Albums". Billboard. Archived from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
25. ^ "Bonito Generation by Kero Kero Bonito reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Archived from the original on 8 January 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
26. ^ "Bonito Generation by Kero Kero Bonito Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 26 February 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
27. Levinson, Leah. "Kero Kero Bonito – Bonito Generation". Tiny Mix Tapes. Archived from the original on 29 October 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
28. ^ Kero Kero Bonito (2017). Bonito Generation (Album notes) (CD ed.). Tokyo, Japan: Around the World. Note: Catalog numbers differ depending on release variant.
29. Kero Kero Bonito (2018). Bonito Generation (Album notes) (LP ed.). London, UK: Self-released.

External links

• Bonito Generation at Discogs

• 2016 debut albums
• Electropop albums
• Kero Kero Bonito albums
• 2010s Japanese-language albums