Country Girls - Wakatteirunoni Gomen ne / Tamerai Summer Time RE single

Title: Wakatteirunoni Gomen ne / Tamerai Summer Time
Artists: Country Girls
Release date: 01 JUL 2015
Type: single
Version: Regular edition Type A

Packaging: Being one of the regular editions the packaging is about as basic as it gets. The jewel case is thin so there is only the front jacket with no back. I did pick this version of the single to get based on the cover, which I like as I think the red outfits are cute and they really draw your attention in towards them with the simple background. There are profile headshots on the back of the cover jacket of the five members with their colors used as the border of the top and bottom of the photos. Inside though it is mostly just the lyrics to the song. I do like that they used a photo of the location they were in for the PV as a background for one of the two pages.

Track listing:

1. わかっているのにごめんね (Wakatteirunoni Gomenne)
While this song takes a leaf from the song off their debut single, Itoshikutte Gomen ne, it does not feel as strong as a song. The dialog that helps tell the story of the song that the girls do is as cute as the dialog in Itoshikutte but the rest of the song is not as catchy. It is still a fun song though and listening to it you can tell that the girls have gotten stronger with their vocals from their first single. It also keeps the throwback style of the first single which helps cement this sound as one for the group.

2. ためらい サマータイム (Tamerai Summer Time)
After a string of upbeat songs Tamerai Summer Time changes things up by being a slower paced pop song. It still has that 50s retro sound to it, with sha la las and everything. It is a nice song to listen to though not very dynamic. But after three songs that have cute and upbeat feel to them something calmer and sweet works well. Also this song features the older members a bit more than the other so the change in style works well to reflect that as well.


3. わかっているのにごめんね (Wakatteirunoni Gomenne) (instrumental)
4. ためらい サマータイム (Tamerai Summer Time) (instrumental)


Overall:

A nice sophomore single from the group that solidifies their group sound while at the same time works to expand on it. Despite the loss of Shimamura Uta between singles management kept things on course and as a fan of the group I did find it relieving as losing a group member is never an easy thing, especially when the member was the one that was treated as the center of the group. But this single proves that the rest of the group is plenty capable enough to keep going and that they still hold plenty of promise.

While not as strong as their debut single it is still a solid release for the group to help stabilize them after the loss of a member.