I was surprised by how much I enjoyed “Bad Romance” — I’m not sure what it is exactly, but the song is catchy enough to stick in your head. The video was as strange as I expected, given what I’d read about her, but at the same time, it’s relieving to have such an odd video to watch. So much of mainstream Western music these days is made up of cookie-cutter pop stars, it’s refreshing to have an artist who dares to be as different as Lady Gaga does. I might not necessarily understood half of what she does, but I am all for her creative expressions. At least it’s not more of the same — haven’t we had enough of that?

That said, I’m going to go back to my Nightwish marathon now. I discovered them a few days ago and I can’t get enough of them; I’ve been listening to their albums Once and Dark Passion Play on repeat. I have no idea why it took so long for me to discover them, but I’m thrilled I did!

One of those artists was RADWIMPS. The name alone caught my interest, because all good Japanese bands have a strange name, right? (At least, a good chunk of them do…) Their artist profile described them as having “the funk of Red Hot Chili Peppers,” so I knew I’d have to give them a try.

So off to Youtube I went to see if any of their PVs were there. The first one I stumbled upon was “Sentsuna Rensa.”

And all I could say was WTF?

If there’s some greater meaning in the PV, it’s utterly lost on me. The song itself, however, is awesome. The vocalist, Yojiro Noda, easily sings in both Japanese and English, both with superb pronunciation, and the song leaves you wanting to hear more. (And, admittedly, wondering why he’s singing about meeting Eddie Murphy in Hollywood.)

The second PV I came across, “Futarigoto,” assured me that they have more “normal” songs as well. Their sound is still incredibly catchy and memorable, and by then I knew I had to hear more of this band.

What I found was “Order Made.” This PV does have a deeper meaning, one I’m sure would have been lost on me if I hadn’t found a subtitled PV. It makes a fascinating analogy of the human body to making a sandwich and requesting what’ll be put in it, and the song itself is slow without ever really being boring. It certainly leaves you thinking.

RADWIMPS is definitely a band I’m going to keep an eye out for — I’ve enjoyed just about everything I’ve heard of them, and I hope they release more soon. In the meantime, I’ve become quite fond of their latest album, “Alto Colony no Teiri,” and I know I’ll be playing it all summer long.