Debut full-lengths by rock bands rarely spark divisiveness in Japan’s music scene. But kurayamisaka’s “kuramiyasaka yori ai wo komete” isn’t your typical first album.

Released in September, the 12-track collection was instantly celebrated, with music critics and fans calling it a “masterpiece.” Others pushed back against the early praise, calling it derivative and emotionally hollow. From that tension came an even larger debate over the album’s “shoegaze” classification and what that genre — loud, distortion-laden guitar rocks — even means.

“Are we alternative? Are we shoegaze? Are we a rock band? It’s not for us to decide,” says Shotaro Shimizu, the band’s primary songwriter and guitarist, laughing. “But it’s also not for them to decide. It’s confusing.”