BEST ALBUMS OF 2008: #1: BUONO! Cafe Buono!
BUONO!
Cafe Buono!
(Pony Canyon)
Available on CD and through iTunes Japan
It was probably inevitable for me that Buono!’s debut album was going to be at the top of my list this year. It seemed like every time I went out of the house, I was usually grabbing this CD off of my shelf on my way out of the door. It took me until the band’s second single, “Renai Rider”, to start to become a believer in this particular project (despite the group’s lineage), but once the album had been given its initial spins on my CD player and iPod it was obvious that Cafe Buono! possesses the best rock-based girlpop to come out since the heyday of the Go-Go’s and Cyndi Lauper. Now, if Miyabi, Airi and Momoko would actually pick up instruments for more than a few seconds like they did at the beginning of their concert this past year, they’d be even more perfect than they already are.
