Japan Night, LA
Since I'm such a bad writer, you might just want to readThe Punk Vault's take on this 5-band showcase of Japanese bands touring the US. The advantage of reading PV's take is that Craig and I saw one less band than they did. Here is the lineup that played at the Knitting Factory last night:
I will now give you my quick take, overly-generalized comments on each band:
The Emeralds, alone, made the evening worth the admission. They were a surf-pop trio with matching black vinyl pants. Nothing really sepcial about their music, but they really got into it with the crowd, and the audience of about 60 were really responsive. They had a lot of the we-chant-you-chant-back type of songs (see the video linked to above), but their crazy Japanese antics were just what I needed to have a good evening (getting two beers in my gut during the first set helped out, too). I bought their CD, and when I'm in Japan in August, I'll definitely be looking to see them play to their home-town crowd.
Rodeo Carburettor came on next, and were the only really "punk" band. I thouroughly enjoyed them, but didn't buy their CD. I wish I had. I can't really remember who they reminded me of, but I swear their last song was a cover of TSOL's Superficial Love. Even if it wasn't, the last song was fucking awesome. I hope they play a bill with the Emeralds when I'm in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Stance Punk were the least impressive to me, but their guitar player was pretty good and he had really spiky hair.
PE'Z was a weird band to throw in here, near the end of the show. It seemed like their sole purpose was to play jazz as fast as possible. I give them credit for being great musicians and for having a stand-up bass, but I kind of got tired of them after a while, even though I had 4 beers by this point. I won't be looking for their show in Japan.
The last band was the power-pop trio called TsuShiMaMiRe. Think: The Donnas, but cuter and Japanese. These girls seemed really well-trained on their instruments, were tight, and had some Nirvana-esque riffs. It was a fun set, and I did buy one of their CDs, but it's not nearly as good as their live set. When I'm in Japan, if they're playing the same bill as RC and the Emeralds, I'd stick around, but I doubt I'd shell out 2 million yen (or whatever the equivalent of 20 bucks is) to see them again.
If you're interested in some other Japanese punk bands, be sure to check out:
-DIB out.
- The Emeralds (video)
- The Rodeo Carburettor (with a really annoying website)
- Stance Punk
- PE'Z
- TsuShiMaMiRe
I will now give you my quick take, overly-generalized comments on each band:
The Emeralds, alone, made the evening worth the admission. They were a surf-pop trio with matching black vinyl pants. Nothing really sepcial about their music, but they really got into it with the crowd, and the audience of about 60 were really responsive. They had a lot of the we-chant-you-chant-back type of songs (see the video linked to above), but their crazy Japanese antics were just what I needed to have a good evening (getting two beers in my gut during the first set helped out, too). I bought their CD, and when I'm in Japan in August, I'll definitely be looking to see them play to their home-town crowd.
Rodeo Carburettor came on next, and were the only really "punk" band. I thouroughly enjoyed them, but didn't buy their CD. I wish I had. I can't really remember who they reminded me of, but I swear their last song was a cover of TSOL's Superficial Love. Even if it wasn't, the last song was fucking awesome. I hope they play a bill with the Emeralds when I'm in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Stance Punk were the least impressive to me, but their guitar player was pretty good and he had really spiky hair.
PE'Z was a weird band to throw in here, near the end of the show. It seemed like their sole purpose was to play jazz as fast as possible. I give them credit for being great musicians and for having a stand-up bass, but I kind of got tired of them after a while, even though I had 4 beers by this point. I won't be looking for their show in Japan.
The last band was the power-pop trio called TsuShiMaMiRe. Think: The Donnas, but cuter and Japanese. These girls seemed really well-trained on their instruments, were tight, and had some Nirvana-esque riffs. It was a fun set, and I did buy one of their CDs, but it's not nearly as good as their live set. When I'm in Japan, if they're playing the same bill as RC and the Emeralds, I'd stick around, but I doubt I'd shell out 2 million yen (or whatever the equivalent of 20 bucks is) to see them again.
If you're interested in some other Japanese punk bands, be sure to check out:
- Hi-Standard
- Nicotine (one of my favorite bands... check them out on AMR)
- Friday Knights (an LA band with a shitty name, but I auditioned to be their drummer a few years ago, and I liked their stuff, but things didn't work out)
- and Nemo (another LA-based all Japanese band... indie rock/pop-punk... decent live sets. They're broken up now.)
-DIB out.
posted by dumpinabox at
13:46
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