Mango Jump: The Wildest, Most Addictive Band in the World (Part 2)
Part one is right here! If you haven’t read it yet, go check it out first!
This week’s recommended playlist
Meow meow, hello everyone, welcome back, it’s me, Mydondon. It’s 4:19 in the morning right now, and today I’m going to challenge myself to write this whole article from start to finish without leaving my seat, to see how fast I can get it done. So without further ado, let’s dive right in! First, here’s this week’s recommended playlist!
YouTube playlist:
Spotify playlist:
Listen while you read on the site (for those of you without premium):
The little Easter eggs in “New・Treasure Island Boy?”
Last week I mentioned the little Easter eggs hidden in the album covers, but since their new album just dropped recently, I figured I’d cover them separately! The first album is “New・Treasure Island Boy?” The “Treasure Island Boy” (Baodao Shaonian) in the album name is actually a manga magazine published by Taiwan’s Tong Li Publishing, which mostly serialized manga from “Jump” magazine. It seems like it isn’t being serialized anymore these days, so it’s kind of a relic of a bygone era. But this raised another problem: if they just went with “Treasure Island Boy,” they were worried they’d run into the same disaster people hit when searching for Mango Jump (Mango Sauce) before, where the band gets completely overshadowed by the actual “mango sauce.” So what to do?
They came up with the idea of doing what those lazy magazines do when they can’t be bothered to think of a new name, and just slapping a “New・” prefix on the front to set it apart. As for the question mark at the end, every time they’re deciding on something they tend to phrase it as a question, like “We’re having hot pot for dinner tonight… right?” They do this so often that it’s become this weird inside-joke habit of theirs, so they added a question mark to the album title. They even played around with this bit at their solo concert.
The album design is very much in the style of an over-the-top shounen manga, which plays right into the “New Treasure Island Boy” name. And because they love playing video games in the studio, “New・Treasure Island Boy?” is also designed to look just like a game cartridge, which really makes it stand out from your typical album.
The intro plays out just like a movie trailer (so the album is a manga, the physical copy is a game, and the intro is a movie trailer; honestly that’s a LOT of elements going on). Right at the start it says “this summer,” which lines up roughly with the season the album was released. In the self-introductions, Zorge and Youlun say their names twice as a nod to Bulbasaur from Pokémon (seed, seed). And if you listen carefully, around the 34-second mark there’s even someone’s burp that I just caught, hahaha. The “how you doing” at the very end is lifted from “Joey,” a character from Friends, and is his classic pickup line.
The songs on the first album are mostly written around themes like love, courage, and hope. For the second album, “Heartbeat Defense War,” Zorge mentioned he wanted to write about setbacks, but that doesn’t mean the second album is about giving up. Instead, it’s like the Wright Brothers in the first song who, even after failing so many times, still refused to give up until the day they finally succeeded. In one of Mango Jump’s IG posts they also said: “A heartbeat is proof you’re alive, the wellspring of life, the moment you feel a flutter and excitement for something. I think this will be an album that leaves you feeling wistful yet fired up.” And honestly, the first time you listen to this album it really does give you exactly that feeling.
Personally I can’t make heads or tails of this album’s cover! But the intro still carries over from the previous album’s intro, done up like a movie trailer, except this time they changed it to “This Winter.” I wonder if next time it’ll be “This Spring”? The outro, meanwhile, opens with “Lonely Braised Trio” layered over a gradually slowing heartbeat, and it even connects right into the bonus track at the end. So awesome!
Achilles (All ICE 8-bit Remix)
This bonus track is “Achilles (All ICE 8-bit Remix),” and it’s one of my favorites. I love how the two different versions of Achilles each give off such a different vibe. The original sounds like an old-school Hong Kong film, while this one has a real Nintendo Famicom feel to it. And of course, that earworm chorus is still seared into my heart: “War god, war god, war god Achilles, how could you die before fighting alongside me on the battlefield. War god, war god, war god Achilles, I want to keep going for a hundred more years, how could you die first.” This song is also often used as the closer at a lot of live shows (like the 2023 Taiwan Season and the New Year’s countdown), and they always kick it off in this storytelling kind of way, with some seriously wild stuff in the lead-up, like playing baseball on stage, getting the crowd super hyped. Personally I think Mango Jump’s live energy is way better than just listening on a streaming platform.
This album also has a really special song, another one of those storytelling tracks like Achilles, and that’s “I Don’t Want to Work aka I’m Gonna Win the Lottery.” Basically, it’s a song about an office worker just like the rest of us, daydreaming about the day they hit the jackpot: “Honestly I don’t want to work, I’m dog-tired every single day, I want to win the lottery. I want freedom, a carefree life, I walk into the lottery shop and I just know I’m gonna win!” It’s kind of like a remake of the song “Little Purple,” and it’s perfect for getting everyone hyped up and singing along together.
Fly, Wright
But if I had to pick just one song from this album to recommend to everyone, I’d go with “Fly, Wright.” Just as you’d guess, this song tells the story of the Wright Brothers. Like every inventor, they went through many failures along the way before finally soaring into the sky. “You, had a dream, but found no one to give you direction. You, longed to fly, but found that humans have no wings. And, every night, you dragged your disappointment back to the factory. I see your weary shoulders, still carrying hope.” Maybe every one of you chasing your dreams is a Wright Brother too: even though you drag your disappointment back to the factory every night, you still wake up full of hope for each new morning. Maybe the failures of right now don’t mean all your effort has been for nothing.
Some songs are in Mandarin, some are in Taiwanese
When you listen to Mango Jump’s songs, you’ll notice some are sung in Mandarin while others are mainly in Taiwanese. In one interview, Zorge mentioned that he seems to write more earnestly when he’s writing Taiwanese songs, and his ballads are mostly in Taiwanese too. Maybe it’s because he feels like if he wrote in Mandarin, or in that sort of theatrical tone, it wouldn’t feel sincere enough. That’s why some songs are in Mandarin and some are in Taiwanese.
Part of the reason he thinks this way may also come from the influence of Fire EX. and Eggplantegg, which is why he feels some lyrics work really well in Taiwanese, and that expressing the lyrics in Taiwanese carries more punch. That said, honestly Zorge’s own Taiwanese isn’t all that great, and he often has to look up online how to say certain things in Taiwanese.
I Like You
I also feel like some lyrics have a special charm when sung in Mandarin + Taiwanese, or even all in Taiwanese. Take this song “I Like You,” which mixes Mandarin + Taiwanese + English, yet it doesn’t feel disjointed at all. In fact, it makes the lyrics even easier to connect with. My favorite line is: “Oh oh oh love, you’re in my future, the feelings I have for you, I want to say them out loud, in this storm-tossed world, I’ll always be right here, waiting for you to understand.” And of course, the rapid-fire string of “I like you” at the end is amazing too. It instantly brings back that period of time you lost because you never dared to say it out loud. Sometimes people only start to regret it once it’s already gone.
Goodbye, Cinema
On top of that, “Goodbye, Cinema” is another great Taiwanese song, and they gave a brief rundown of the story behind it on IG. The gist is that you and I go to watch a movie together, but halfway through we realize we’re both actors. After we finish playing out this scene and it’s time to leave, you say you want to stay behind, while I’m forced by time to keep moving forward. “When the tears fall, that’s when I realize we’re both just actors. Let’s put on a good show for them to watch. The movie’s over, we’re about to leave, I take your hand, and you slowly say, you can’t walk anymore.” Listening to this song always gives me this sense of helplessness, like something has already passed the point of no return, that feeling of having no choice but to give up because there’s nothing left to be done.
Lonely Braised Trio
Just like Goodbye, Cinema, this next song “Lonely Braised Trio” also captures that melancholy of parting ways. If I just go by what the lyrics seem to mean, I think this is a song about how things stay the same but the people are gone, like that shop you and your other half always loved going to, and after the breakup, only you keep coming back, with all that bittersweet melancholy. “Eating my favorite braised trio all alone, and you? How could you just leave me? All my love for you, your heart, and your soul, are all right here, stirred together with loneliness.” If you’ve heard this song, you’ll definitely be able to relate. You’re sitting alone in that familiar restaurant eating that familiar meal, but the one unfamiliar thing is the empty seat across from you. That feeling is something only those who’ve been through it can truly understand.
The funny thing is, the shop “Braised Trio” actually exists, and Mango Jump really has been there, so who knows, maybe the backstory is real too.
The real Braised Trio (Mango Jump strongly recommends you order the milkfish belly): https://maps.app.goo.gl/NXTjwwVRnLSbadJw9
Why is Mango Jump called Mango Jump?
Before we wrap up, there’s still one thing I haven’t told you about! That’s right… why is Mango Jump called Mango Jump? Actually, the name was thrown together pretty randomly at first. Back when they were in their university guitar club, they organized a trip abroad, and to sign up for a competition they had to come up with a band name. So on their trip to Boracay, they kept brainstorming to come up with a name. And as luck would have it, if there’s one thing Boracay has plenty of, it’s mango products, so they just decided to name themselves after something mango-related.
As for why specifically “Mango Sauce”? It mainly comes down to their musical style. Mango Jump’s songs all give off this heavy sense of groove that gets everyone jumping and moving along together, and they wanted to bring people music that’s full of “jump.” So they named themselves Mango Jump, which is why their Chinese name is “Mango Sauce” and their English name is “mango jump.” But actually, right at the very beginning they were also planning to call themselves “Blue Tea Egg,” based on an unwritten tradition in the music scene where you take the color of your underwear + what you ate for breakfast that day. Hmm… yeah, Mango Jump is definitely the better call.
Get Chubby
The last song I want to recommend to you all is “Get Chubby,” a collaboration with Winnie. This is a really fun song. Guitars paired with wishing each other well by hoping the other person gets chubby make for a song that’s both silly and sweet. It feels perfect for getting hyped up together on a trip or at KTV! “Let’s get chubby, sway along with the music, and before you know it your mood turns happy. Get chubby, la la la, la la la la, you can definitely become braver.” Hahaha, honestly, every single time I play it for other people, it makes everyone’s eyes light up!
Hey! Lil’ Chubby, you’re listening along and the tears just start to fall, by your side I understand, all the chub is romance~
Hehehe~ thanks everyone for reading all the way to here! If you enjoyed this week’s weekly playlist recommendation, feel free to hit like and save it! And if you don’t want to miss next week’s recommended playlist, go ahead and hit follow. See you all next week! Oh right, that wraps up the Mango Jump feature. I haven’t decided which band I’m going to write about next week yet, so I want to let you all vote. Hurry over to the comments section and cast your vote!
Mydondon’s new recommended playlist family bucket (the all-drumstick meal):
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4Uet444O5wiNEoCRPYqhDc?si=2c11c12627c44210
YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRRUz5Ks1DvR93efV9ViecRSPsS5GNUQj&si=THmSYcOnD7bApzQV
Other recommended playlists: https://mydondon.net/category/entertainment/playlist/
Not in the mood for such a text-heavy article? My IG has curated highlights with pictures: https://www.instagram.com/hikids1010/