Anamanaguchi - [USA] (2LP) - 45RPM

Dropping the needle on Anamanaguchi’s [USA] feels like powering on an old console in a room full of amps. The screens glow, but the room shakes too. This is the New York quartet at full widescreen, a big-hearted chiptune-pop record that arrived in 2019 after a long gap since Endless Fantasy, and it plays like a reset and an upgrade at the same time. They cut their teeth wiring Nintendo and Game Boy sound chips into sugar-rush punk, then leveled up with the Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game soundtrack in 2010. [USA] carries that DNA but shoots for something grander, a record that lets emotion and melody carry as much weight as speed and flash.

Part of its charm is how physical it feels. Anamanaguchi has always been a band in the literal sense. Peter Berkman and Ary Warnaar’s guitars don’t just sit on top of the bleeps. They tangle with them, pushing the hooks into something sharp and iridescent. James DeVito’s bass gives the low end a kick you feel in your chest, and Luke Silas plays like a drummer who loves pop as much as punk, pulling crisp patterns out of frantic arrangements. That mix of hand-built electronics and human muscle gives [USA] a live-wire urgency that still hits years later.

The singles set the tone. “On My Own,” with HANA on vocals, floats like a late-night drive that suddenly turns into a fireworks show. Her voice slices cleanly through a skyline of arpeggios, then rides a chorus that feels instantly familiar. It is glossy but not plastic, a reminder that Anamanaguchi can write a pop song without sanding off their edges. “Lorem Ipsum (Arctic Anthem)” goes bigger and icier. You can almost see the frost forming on those bell-like leads, then melting when the chorus lets the guitars roar. The title reads like a joke for designers, but the song lands with serious heft.

What keeps [USA] compelling is pacing. The band is known for breakneck tempos, yet the album keeps opening space inside the rush. Themes recur. Melodies knit together. Moments that feel like boss-fight finales bloom into something more reflective. You get flashes of the DIY scene that raised them, but also a sense that they were chasing the idea of a modern American pop record filtered through old chips and new obsessions. It is the kind of album that makes you think about highways and clouds while you’re stuck on the subway.

If you’re the type who cares about format, the [USA] vinyl is a real treat. Polyvinyl’s pressing gives the highs room to shimmer and the kick drums proper punch, which matters on a record that lives and dies by how it balances sparkle and slam. I first spun it at the shop after closing, lights half out, and that side A lift made the back wall feel a few feet farther away. The synths flicker like CRT scanlines, the snare snaps, the low end rounds out. If you’re building a section of Anamanaguchi albums on vinyl, this is the one that makes the shelf feel complete.

There is history folded into the grooves too. Fans who came in through Scott Pilgrim will recognize the jubilant, laser-tag brightness, but [USA] reads as more reflective. It arrived in a moment when nostalgia was currency, and yet the record doesn’t feel nostalgic. It treats the old sound chips as instruments, not novelty, and frames them with arrangements that nod to pop-punk, trance, and widescreen indie. You can hear the band aiming for songs that stand up even if you stripped the chips out, and that confidence shows.

The best pop records make you feel like you’re inside them. [USA] does that with color and motion. The hooks are sticky. The builds are patient. Even the quieter corners hum. It is a record that rewards both quick hits and full-album plays, which is probably why it has stuck in rotation while so many internet-era curiosities faded. I’ve recommended it to club kids, soundtrack nerds, and guitar lifers, and it wins them over for different reasons.

If you’re crate-digging, you will find plenty of Anamanaguchi vinyl floating around, but [USA] is the one I point to when someone asks where to start. You can buy Anamanaguchi records online through the label or your favorite shop, and if you’re browsing vinyl records Australia shops or a Melbourne record store, keep an eye out for this one. It is the rare bright-and-loud album that still feels generous, like a night drive with the windows down after a long week. As a listen on speakers it thrills. As a document of a band stepping into a bigger frame, it sticks the landing.