Ex-Cranberries frontwoman Dolores O'Riordan - beyond redemption in any language, apparently
Any Asobi Seksu fans are welcome to help me out on this one: why is it suddenly cool to like a band peddling third rate, decade-past-its-sell-by-date indie music? It can't be because they sing primarily in Japanese, can it? Surely not! In an industry where English remains not so much the lingua franca as the default setting, singing in another language can have the magical power to seduce punters into ignoring the kind of fundamental musical deficiencies that would normally have them leaping for the 'shuffle' button.
Great artists from around the globe transcend language, standing or falling purely on the strength of their talent. Bad ones - from Eurovision entries to ex-Cranberries - are simply beyond redemption. But ordinary ones, whether from Tooting or Tokyo, can benefit from a helping hand, and even something as rudimentary as singing in a language other than English does no harm: it gives the UK and US media a handy angle and also lends a certain kudos and mystique to a band that would otherwise simply be, say, Seville or Osaka's equivalent of Ned's Atomic Dustbin or Hell Is For Heroes.
More than that, it somehow conspires to attach a higher purpose to otherwise humdrum music, as though it contains some deep, internal meaning we can only hope to grasp. And it's not just Japanese indie bands. Listen to some of Serge Gainsbourg's rather horrible, mid-80s rock-funk workouts and - once you've set aside the fact that he's growling a load of filth in a language most of us, to our shame, still don't understand very well - it might as well be Robert Palmer up there.
Perhaps there is another, more tangible factor in all this. Perhaps the real reason we're inclined to be forgiving about mediocre music when it isn't sung in English is because it means we don't have to grapple with the words. Most lyrics - whether anodyne fill-in-the-blanks or elevated so-called poetry - simply aren't good enough these days to do anything other than detract from the listening experience. Who needs awkward philosophy and poorly expressed 'meaning'? The sound of someone purring away in French or getting worked up in Japanese offers sufficient sensory satisfaction, and means we can respond on a purely instinctive, imaginative level - even if the band are playing what sounds suspiciously like a Ride B-side in the background.
