pq - From Neon Town

Recently I've been fishing for bands outside the Kansai area in search of fresh, new, ungrazed pastures. These guys are one of the most impressive bands I've come across so far. Formed in 2005 this 5-piece Kanagawa quintet made up of the usual drum, bass and guitars and supplemented by alto and tenor sax produce music that is a little tricky to pigeonhole but definatley takes its ques from New York's 80's jazz-infused no-wave punk scene.

From Neon City is the first of 2 CDRs the band have put out so far. 11 short but so very sweet tracks of rhytmically driven angular punk/math/jazz rock. Most tracks clock in just a slither over the 1 minute mark but it's impressive how many ideas and change ups the band manage to cram into such a short period of time without it ever feeling overly complicated, clever or esoteric. I can't gush more about how much I enjoy this bands music and I'll be keeping a close eye on their output.

Anyone who digs this may also want to check out the Bosston Cruizing Mania CDs I put up a while back and the recent album by Aichi band The Act We Act.

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Seppuku Pistols (切腹ピストルズ）

Apologies for the long break in posting. It was Obon holiday here in Japan recently so I've been especially lazy these last few weeks.

I had the slightly awkward pleasure of seeing these guys play the other night. I say awkward because Seppuku Pistols (Seppuku being the samurai tradition of disemboweling oneself in an honourable suicide.) are a 4-piece, Tokyo-based, ultra-nationalist punk band whose hits include "Nanking Boogie", "Kill The CIA" and "No Mishima No Future". The band wear their Sex Pistols influence on their militaristic sleeves but fuse their old school style of anthemic punk with some sub-bass electronics and a plentyful supply of traditional Japanese samples and news audio clips.

Their World War II-centric political views may be a little distasteful to some but seem to fall closely in line with Mishima Yukio's own brand of militant nationalism. The focus being the restoration of Japanese pride and power following its downfall in WWII. Often this sort of nationalism is misunderstood or dissmissed as being apologists for Japan's crimes in WWII or a revival of Japanese imperialism but to be sure is a far, far cry from being a brand of neo-Nazism or having any association with it. This isn't really a place for debate on politics and ideology but I thought it would be useful to clarify a little about something that might seem immediatley repellent for some.

Anyway back to the music. The band haven't released any CDs (Perhaps ideologically driven, though they seem to have little trouble selling T-shirts.) but have put their music up on their website for free complete with lyrics and downloadable mp3s. I've downloaded the 7 available tracks which make up 2 mini-EPs for your listening pleasure. Banzai!

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Ydestroyde - s/t (イデストロイド - s/t)

Ydestroyde are a local Osaka band who first emerged in the early 00's alongside the likes of Afrirampo, Oshiri Penpenz and Kyojin Yuedekai as part of what was later labelled the "zero generation". The band began life as a solo project by vocalist and electronic noodler Synzo then quickly expanded into a 4 piece before the band disbanded around 2005 then continued as a solo project with various stand in and guest members. Earlier this year Synzo put out the bands second album "Synosizer" as a solo project before going on an American tour. 

"Ydestroyde" is the bands first self released CDR mini-album recorded in 2004 when the band were a 4 piece consisting of Synzo on vocals and electronics complimented by drums, bass and guitar. True to many of their "zero generation" peers humourous, chaotic loud as fuck rock'n'roll is the order of the day. Ydestroyde's sound may not be quite as left field as the likes of Afrirampo and Kyojin Yuedekai but it's anarchic fusion of anthemic-punk, prog rock and noisy ,brutal hardcore,  all sprinkled with bits of synthersizers and electronics give Ydestroyde a sound that's difficult to pigeon hole. 

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Tacobonds - Sick Of Listening

This Tokyo 3-piece formed in 2003 much like Panicsmile and Nayuta craft accessible but interesting and off-kilter alt-rock/punk rock mixing elements of post-punk and pos-hardcore in a style reminiscent of late-era Fugazi only slightly less aggresive. Lots of interesting guitar work and twisting tempo changes. "Sick Of Listening" is the bands debut album released back in 2006 and just last month the band released their sophomore album "No Fiction" produced by Panicsmile lead vocalist/guitarist Yoshida Hajime.

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Panicsmile - 10 Songs, 10 Cities

Panicsmile are one of Tokyo's best established independent bands. So much so that they even have their own section on Tokyo's Sunrain Records site dedicated to them and their multitude of sideprojects. Originally formed in 1991 the band have gone through a number of lineup changes over the years but have still managed to remain very consistent in the quality and quantity of their output making them an easy band to get into with any one of their 7+ albums making a good jumping in point. "10 Songs, 10 Cities" is their 3rd album released back in 2001. The key to Panicsmile's sound is their quirky guitar work and offbeat tempo's lifted from the Captain Beefheart, free-jazz, No-wave, Arab On Radar school of abrasive, a-tonal musical noodlery distilled into some surprisingly palatable and accessible alt/math-rock. If you dug the Nayuta album I posted a while back you should find yourself immediatley at home here.

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Tokyo Boredom in Kyoto

Next week will see Tokyo Boredom the Tokyo music festival created in 2009 to highlight some of Japan's weirdest and most wonderful independent and underground bands making its way to Kyoto. (official site here for more info.)It's a superb lineup with list that reads like a who's who of Kanto and Kansai's top underground bands. over 33 bands playing over the course of Sat and Sun (23rd, 24th) all for the bargain price of just 4,000 yen. I've already posted stuff by alot of the bands playing which I'll link to below and over the next few posts I'll post whatever else I have by the bands.

Doddodo
Nohshintoh
Watushi Zombie
Bonanzas
Dora Video
Groundcover
Shitappa Oyabun
Oshiri Pen Penz
Yolz In The Sky
Bossston Cruizing Mania

The festival starts on Sat evening at Kyoto's Club Metro and runs all night from 5.30pm to 5.00am then continues on Sun starting at 3.00pm and running untill 10.30pm. (Timetable here.) Should be a great show and a rare opportunity to check out some of Tokyo's best independent bands. Just wondering how they're going to fit everyone into the small confines of Metro's basement live house... 

Puffyshoes - Finally The Weekend (Bonus CDR)

Japanese all-girl, lo-fi, DIY, garage rock bands are practically an institution unto themselves. Pioneered by Shonen Knife, introduced to wider audiences via Tarrantino's championing of The 5,6,7,8's in his movie Kill Bill, flipped on its head and shaken by the ankles by the likes of Afrirampo and Kiiiiiii and finally resurrected by Kinoko Hotel. It's a quirky genre that captalises on the heart stealing mix of girly Japanese cuteness and charming lo-fi naivity. But with so many such bands around it takes something a little more special to linger in peoples memories after the 2-3 minute sugary coated goodness has left your stereo. Puffyshoes are one such band who manage to distinguish themselves from the oh so adorable horde.

Formed in 2009 this Tokyo duo have quickly been building up momentum and even count bands like Gagakirise amongst their mutual fans (Click here to hear Gagakirise's 12min "cover version" of Puffy's album) . "Finally The Weekend" is actually the bands 2nd album but the first to be released in Japan with their debut "Something Gold" being released by Canadian cassette label Scotch Tapes. With "Finally The Weekend" being a new release I won't be uploading the album itself but I will be uploading the free bonus CDR that comes with it. What you get is 9 tracks, 7 of which I assume are album outtakes and the last being a cover and remix of a Puffy song by another band. Puffy's songs sung in excellent English probably bare more resemblance to current hot ticket U.S. girl rock bands like Best Coast and Vivian Girls than their Japanese counterparts. DIY, grungey, reverb soaked 2 minute rock songs are the order of the day with the whole album clocking in under 20 minutes long. It's not going to revolutionise music but then that's not really the point. Just hope these girls would make the trip down to Osaka soon.

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