Bringing to light smashing punk rock bands from Japan!
I'll try to provide mp3, videos and infos bout bands i love. i did this blog cause i was fed up with the visual crap, idols shit known overseas as "japanese rock". All the band i'll present are singing in japanese, which can be repelling at first. Make an effort and start taking japanese lessons! Worth it!
Time to deal with The 5,6,7,8's! Early Tokyo rock'n'roll scene again. This early footage is awesome. That was just before Eddie (now guitarist of MAD3, i'll talk bout that on day) joined. Those two sister are awesome! Ronnie (guitar and vocals) and Sachiko (Drums) perpetrate the living soul of rock'n'roll since 1986! They distilled their garage sound for more than 12years, so you can say it, that's vintage! Ronnie much cutter now than in that video.
And if you click on this artwork (designed by their friend, Rockin' Jelly Bean, also responsible of the "Bomb the Rocks" compilation album artwork, and numerous awesome flyers) you'll get a link to download their first album from 92' Contains numerous hits, including the killer song "I was a Teenage Cavewoman" (their second single, with Eddie on guitar).
This song is absolutly not characteristic of Guitar Wolf (well, in fact, in a way, it is) style, it's their only ballad (a cover of Eikichi Yazawa, japanese Johnny Halliday..), Seiji alone with his guitar. This song turned to be considered as an ode to Billy, but as the PV attests, it was done before Billy's death. I'll talk about Guitar Wolf, they're enough well known overseas so I won't have to present them. (early 90's, Tokyo rock'n'roll scene, first recording in Memphis, first american tour, "wow japan still have kamikaze", japanese garage craze, that kind of crap). I love you Ok, then:
Oh, and i decided to translate something something Seiji wrote on his blog when Michae Jackson died: It's about the 30cm long slide opening in his left brain when he thinks about the people he considers as tensai (genius, prodigy). So here's the list, for the first time avaible to non japanese readers! Not only musicians, but actors, athlets...I find this list somehow touching, as the others post on his blog. His blog is great, you're somehow getting the impression of reading a secret diary.. So, he're the list: -Steve MacQueen -Alain Delon -Antonio Inoki (former japanese wrestler) -Shigeo Nagashimaa (baseball player) -Mohammed Ali -Lupin the 3rd -Johnny Thunders -Mike Jaggers -Rockin Enoki (from Jacky and The Cedrics) -The Cramps -The Ramones -Angus Young -Elvis Presley -Onochin (from the Jet Boys) -Kyoshiro Imawano -Sid Vicious -Brian Setzer -Link Wray -Yoshiko from the 5,6,7,8's (drums) -Bad Brains -Tina Turner -Ichiro (baseball player) -a young black waitress he saw in New Orleans a long time ago -Shoken (japanese actor & singer) -Yuusaku Matsuda (japanese actor) -Joan Jett -Cherie & Marie -Martina Navrátilová (tennis player) -Hideki Saijo when he was young (actor and singer) -Jin from "Maboroshi" (gang in the movie "Crazy Thunder Road Battle") -Iggy Pop -Nadia Comaneci -Usain Bolt -Teengenerate -Kiss -Jimmy Hendrix -etc... Edifying right?
Their's a example of the worst things you can export from Japan: a girl band dressed like bondage doll slut, playing staticaly uniform dull produced so-called "garage punk". Thanks to Marc Zermati who propulsed them to an ephemeral glory, they splitted up. Anoying jap-english out of key singer, armless drummer, poor cd packaging, that's fucking aweful crap for deaf j-pop fan fetishists.
Punk rock divas my ass. Cause we all know that the only girl group which really rocks are The 5,6,7,8's.
Thee Michelle Gun Elephant's guitarist, Abe Futoshi died on July 22, 2009. He was 42. Imawano Kyoshiro, now Abe, that's a lot of solar eclipses for Japan this year. Ironic pretext to present them...
Formed in 1991, they broke up in 2003. There's a lot of online english sources on them cause they are quite known overseas, but i reassure you, it's not another "ultra-cool kung-fu garage punk from Japan" as uninformed press usually like to qualify japanese bands (notify the quasi-systematic use of words as kung-fu, tsunami, tougher that Hiroshima, kamikaze and affiliated when talking about japanese bands). I don't don't have any starting point to qualify their music, exept than nothing filters through their steamroller-like deafening wall of sound. That's Rock and any others adjectives are superfluous. Chiba Yusuke (vocals, guitar) often seems to scream, but once you'll pass this pitfall (if this is one for you) you'll discover than a lot of their song are actually very well composed and even if they're poseurs, even if the lyrics are sometimes repetitive, this band deserve its reputation. I would like to upload the LP long version of Dany Go but i can't encode my records, so try to get Gear Blues,amazing double LP on Triad with great gatefold packaging. This video is kind of long, but it's awesome. Thrilling footage of Abe's guitar playing (watch that with the proper material!).
We're sliding away from punk now, and getting to another core: genuine rock'roll like in the old days. Seriously, who would this band formed in 1998? The Neatbeats are the finest in their category: mersleybeat, rock'n'roll, beat, it's damn good to dance to. But what's the point? Doing exactly the same music as it use to be done in the 60's? But your missing the point asking those questions. Here it's about doing what you like, and make girls and boys dance till the end of the night. If your still in the dark, i warmly recommend "Neat-At-Best", a compilation of 25 songs which will give you a good idea of the band's musical universe. They're from Osaka, recorded steadily since their debut in 1998 with some american releases on Get Hip records. Manabe Takashi (Mr. Pan, third from left) is writting a very interresting blog: Mister Pan's Diary (in japanese). The song I choose to present is a 6min long blues/garage race, "Big Red Partner". Damn good.
And if you wanna dance, here's "Shinkû Pack (bottle pack special)" an exclusive song of "Neat-At-Best"↓ http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?zik5yftdu0i
Studio live version of bakudan ga ochikkochiru toki (''when the bomb falls). Rock'n'roll is also about performance right? Here's a good example showing you The Blue Hearts at their best: hyperactive, directly from the heart, sung with guts! Great lyrics too, what will happen if a bomb was dropped... Will surely be interesting, cause there's ''too much thing i don't need". Even if they are an hyper popular band, it's still punk, in a japanese way or in one other...
Well, with The Cro-Magnons (za Kuromaniyonzu), i will finish presentation of the 3 successives groups formed by Komoto Hiroto and Masatoshi Mashima. These two are kind of an exception: doing a band for 10 years, and them form a new one. Let me sum up for ya: The Blue Hearts (1985-1995) The High-Lows (1995-2005) and now The Cro-Magnons (2005-2015??). So, here's a live footage of their song Dangan Rock (Bullet Rock!). Yes, thats where the name of my blog comes from. Its from their debut single album Tariho, but i will develop that later. Almost all of their song have the strange capacity to turn easily into anthems.
If america had Iggy Pop, Japan still have Hiroto! Not bad for a 47 years old ojisan right?
One of the best band ever. In my personal top3, definitely. I'll let the music talk for them. Let's begging with ''発光体/Hakkoutai" (Luminous body) Once blood, tears and sweat have dried up, what will come out your head? You'll probably find out here. It's from their album ''3x3x3". http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?nnbmhq2zjln
The Timers! New band formed by the regreted and recently deceased Imawano Kyôshirô, former member of the RC Sucession (well known and acclaimed japanese 80's rock band). They perform here live on TV and instead of playing the normal setlist, they played this amazingly offensive song against Tokyo FM. The lyrics are even more rude than the subtitled version here. Man, that's punk! I believe it was as shocking as the Pistol's Billy Grundy interview when broadcasted. Even if I wasn't a big fan of Kyôshirô, I respect him for that and for many others things. That kind of action is just unbelievable nowadays, he really jeopardized his carrier for that. No one knows other examples of that kind of live broadcasted punk rock actions?
First post bout my beloved High-Lows. Formed on the still warm ashes of the Blue Hearts in 1995, it's the new rock typhoon everyones had been waiting for. It's rock, with a big R, pure and genuine. Their first album is full of huge guitar riffs, harmonica grooves and I suppose it was a real relief when release (and still is for me everytime I listen to it) during this hard year for Japan. More than punk spirited rock, their music make you look on the bright side of life, even if we all know that it's all wicked from the start. Here's their first single (release on 10/25/1995) MISSILE MAN. More than a warning bout the storm comming, it gives you a good definition of what is a "guitar riff".
It's the live video of the first song of the first album "Good Bye" (to the Blue Hearts of course, but also with a lot of thing). Where some could just see a Rolling Stone influenced song, i see that fuck, the High Lows were one the best band of the nineties. Hiroto is definitely a unique singer/performer
Teengenerate! This band is quite known overseas. Formed on the ashes of the American Soul Spiders (worth listening too) They're representative of the connection between japanese punk rock and american punk rock in the early 90's: devil dogs, guitar wolf, oblivians, phantoms surfers... They brought back to japan influences that will change the garage punk scene. Less known than Guitar Wolf (who will first became famous in the US), their music is a deafening sinthesis of punk rock influence, highly speeded with incoherent japanish english lyrics. It's pure as hell, and one of the best example of the japanese assimilation/reinterpretation's power at its best! Here's 3 songs from "live at the shelter". Listen to it in a row, worth it:
Formed in 1979, "koi wo shiyô yo" is the b side of their first 7'. You got every thing to make a good punk anthem here: catchy guitar riff, epileptic vocals and chorus and funny lyrics. "ore ha tada anta to yaritai dake" means kind of "i just want to do it with you". Orgasm addicted kids will be satisfied.
衝撃! I won't forget the first time i listened to the Blue Hearts. The biography crap part is easy to find on the web, i won't do it for you. Just know that even if they were (and still are) ultra-popular in Japan, available in every karaoke box, and now in every good pachinko, the sincerity was there till the end. They formed in early 1985 (punk took time to reach japan) Here's the song 1985, you can find the lyrics and a description here. it's bout the bomb and the defeat of japan, and one of their earliest recording. Sounds pretty raw, and it's PURE! I'm not done with them: singer Hiroto and guitarist Masatoshi Mashima after the end of The Blue Hearts formed The High-Lows and after the end of The High-Lows, formed The Cromagnions (who are still playing now). 3 bands, one spinal column!
Contains numerous hits, including the killer song "I was a Teenage Cavewoman" (their second single, with Eddie on guitar).
