The Minnesota: Mouth To Mouth

It’s been five years since Birthday Suits released its explosive debut, Cherry Blue, and what does the duo have to show for its unhurried recording process? Twenty-one minutes of new material. Fortunately, The Minnesota: Mouth To Mouth is 21 minutes of very good new material.

After playing in punk band Sweet J.A.P., drummer Yuichiro Matthew Kazama and guitarist Hideo Takahashi re-teamed for a smaller but no less dynamic project. Birthday Suits moves swiftly between pummeling walls of noise, straightforward rock hooks, and unpredictable tangents. This is short-attention-span music: If a riff doesn’t grab you, wait a few seconds. Thrashing opener “This Is A Song” ends with a few puffs on a harmonica and Takahashi’s nonchalant off-mic ba-ba-ba’s. “Lost Weekends,” a Ramones-like ode to having nothing to do, strolls in on a totally unrelated drumbeat and exits the same way.

While the album’s title sounds like a dance craze from the '60s (similar to the Madison but way sexier), most of its songs would barely give Dick Clark’s minions enough time to learn the steps. Some of the under-a-minute tracks seem like impromptu experiments, like the curious “Miracle Brothers 2,” which offers an out-of-place taste of worldbeat. Other times, that brevity is maddening. “Rock'n Roll Emergency” is 49 seconds of pounding kick drum, resolute lyrics, and shout-along backups from Arzu Gokcen (Selby Tigers, Strut & Shock) and Christy Hunt (Ouija Radio, The Von Bondies) that builds to... nothing. But that’s what Birthday Suits does: gets you worked up and leaves you wanting more, occasionally for five years at a time.

Birthday Suits celebrates its CD-release show Saturday at the Turf Club.