ZAZEN SLOTH VOLA toddle: A comparrison chart

Slightly more than three years since the break-up of Number Girl, all four members have now released albums with their respective projects.

Mukai Shuutoku had a head-start with ZAZEN BOYS. Nakao Kentaro sat in with Spiral Chord before getting serious with SLOTH LOVE CHUNKS. Tabuchi Hisako formed toddle in between guitar duties with bloodthirsty butchers. And Ahito Inzawa formed Vola & the Oriental Machine after splitting from ZAZEN BOYS.

How do each of these projects stack up?

This handy table should help you.

Project Album Sounds Like Pros Cons Grade
toddle I dedicate D chord Pixies/Sonic Youth with girl singer, or (Number Girl + melody) – Mukai’s eccentricity.
  • Great guitar work
  • Subtle production by bloodthirsty butchers’ Yoshimura Hideki
  • Tabuchi isn’t the strongest singer in the world
 B
SLOTH LOVE CHUNKS Shikakui Vision toddle with a better singer and a stronger sound
  • Incredibly strong writing
  • Great bass work by Nakao
  • Are people still pissed Nakao broke up Number Girl?
 A-
Vola & the Oriental Machine Waiting for My Food New Wave sans post-punk, or Franz Ferdinand without all teh Gay
  • Great rhythms
  • Nice spin on the ’80s revival
  • Soon to be dated?
 B
ZAZEN BOYS ZAZEN BOYS III John Zorn/Naked City without the improvisatory skills
  • At least Mukai is staying weird as shit.
  • Leave the avant-noise to the professionals.
 D