BiS - Re:STUPiD Review

Here we go again. The recently revived BiS is back at it with their second comeback album, this time with a full lineup of brand-new songs straight out of the SCRAMBLES kitchen. Were Pour Lui & co able to pull out all the stops and top the mild disappointment that was Brand-new idol Society 2, or is Re:STUPiD just another exercise in trying to light a flame that has long been burned out?

Before anybody drops some flaming hatred in the comments, I'd like to remind you all that this is just the opinion of one person. If you disagree, you're always free to write your own review. That being said, I actually don't particularly dislike Re:STUPiD. This new album features much less of the attitude and even less of the risk-taking writing and production one would expect from a BiS album, so let's instead look at this as simply an album, leave the history out of it. How does Re:STUPiD stand up to the pop culture it's taking part in right now? How does it compare to the group's many contemporaries?

Re:STUPiD opens up with one of my least favorite tracks, gives. It's not even a bad song, it's just sort of forgettable in my opinion. Luckily though we move on to one of my favorite songs, twisted grunge. A typical SCRAMBLES soft rock ballad, sure, but one with a fantastic hook and really strong vocal performances. I also love the distorted vocals on Mysterious Hall. From the get-go, this album is already miles ahead of BiS' comeback album from last year.

SAY YES is probably my favorite track on the album, one of the few that really stood out to me when the group was releasing teasers on Soundcloud. I also really dig Never Starting Song. I'm happy to say that overall this album has a lot more hits than misses. However, I'm not sure it has its own unique sense of belonging in the overall idol environment. BiS, as always, is trying out a handful of genres to see what sticks. Re:STUPiD isn't as diverse as the older BiS albums, but it's also not as conceptually sound as many other J-pop albums coming out these days. It's in a weird state of limbo where overall as an album it may only appeal to BiS fans, but some of the individual songs could stand on their own just fine.

NOT the END is another one of those soft rock ballads which wouldn't have felt out-of-place on a BiSH album, while Give Me a Chocolate follows the formula of more classic BiS pop rock songs. I LOVE the strings on Romeo's Heart, though the song overall feels like SCRAMBLES is trying to capitalize on the success of the BiSH single Orchestra (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). If Tomorrow Comes is another mildly forgettable ballad, though again not a BAD song. The album ends with NAKODUB, another nice ballad which ultimately isn't all that memorable but still isn't bad.

So overall this is mostly what I wanted out of the BiS comeback, but it's not exactly mind-blowing or amazing. Re:STUPiD suffers from some passionless writing and mostly pretty middling performances from singers who have technically good voices but don't sound like they're particularly invested. I LIKE almost every song on here, and in that way it succeeds as a pop album, but I'm not sure how many of them will really stand the test of time. For me personally, I'll either forget about this album in a month's time or it will keep coming back into my head and make it onto my best albums of the year list. Songs like SAY YES and twisted grunge are incredibly strong and keep me coming back day after day, so who knows? If you're a BiS fan, obviously check this album out. If not, I guess that's up to you. It's not an important album by any means, but it's also not a bad one.

-Justin

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