Grown Up Boy Band

KinKi Kids - Harmony of December


The name was popular enough to reach my radar years ago when I started getting into J-pop, but the "boy band" label wasn't quite encouraging for me to find out more. I knew about one song from them I think, and when "KinKi Kids Forever" came out, I totally thought they were just another cheesy group. I didn't even know the group consists of not more than two members, until recently.

By now they've been active for more than ten years, and with a pretty impressive record. Sampling their songs over this period, I realized their singing had been decent from the start, although it's certainly better now. I wasn't following close enough to be able to say that their music matured over the years -- I found at random points songs that fit my fancy and some that don't. But for sure up to now they have produced a number of good songs, learned to play instruments, and composed some music of their own.

Given the dangerously image-oriented multi-purpose Asian idol culture (which I'm sure they are still conforming to, at many levels, to some extent) I'm glad to see such a growth in this aspect.