6 posts tagged “j-rock”

I really didn't know what to expect heading into the Japan Girls' Nite concert this past Sunday night.  I know I was looking forward to this show much more than the regular tour, which I "accidentally" missed this Spring.  I'll be honest, I wasn't that excited to go to the first Japan Nite this year.  There weren't enough girl bands for my totally sexist taste.  I can see rock groups any day.  But a rock band with hawt japanese chicks?  That's a completely different story.

The question was would I find the magic I did with last years' tour?  I had the chance to see SCANDAL, who would later sign a major contract with Epic Records.  The Beaches, who totally blew my mind with their energetic performance.  Detroit7, with their gorgeous, barefooted and Hendrix-styled lead guitarist.  And lest I forget my favorite of them all, Ketchup Mania, who sadly called it quits this past Spring.  I loved Ketchup Mania so much, and they were a deciding factor when I went to Japan last May to see their last ever Tokyo performance!

What all of those bands had was an image.  They were all totally memorable for their own individual reason.  So I went into Japan Girls' Nite at Yoshi's in San Francisco hoping to be captivated again.  Of the four acts on the bill, one group managed to catch my attention...sort of

Cool Factor #1: 6%DokiDoki Girls are very sexy, especially the blonde.
Cool Factor #2: Omodaka has a great sense of humor.
WTF Factor: Omodaka's mask made me feel like I was watching Tom Cruise in Vanilla Sky.

Little did I know this would be my favorite act of the night.  But I didn't get that until the third band performed.  I must admit, Omodaka has a totally cool concept.  Something that was sorely needed this night.  And the 6%DokiDoki Girls were extremely cute.  If this guy was smart he would have them on stage with him everywhere he went.  I loved the last song, which repeatedly asks the audience to yell "Hai" over and over.  On the 4th beat...every 8 bars.  That and the "Dig Dug" inspired music, that was so cool!

Omodaka's outfit is really trippy.  But his personality makes it seem like he is proverbially "taking off the mask" without actually removing it  Every sound is done with various electronic devices, like Sony PSP's, Game Boy's, etc.  Their "lead singer" is actually on a video screen, and I have no idea if it is a real person or just an animated effect.  He is an amazing artist, and very funny.  But the stars to me were the girls...

  

Cool Factor #1: Bass-player Kassan is a lot of fun.
Cool Factor #2: Lead Guitarist Ikumi was the hottest non-DokiDoki Girl in the room.
WTF Factor:  They don't really sing, they mainly scream the lyrics.

RBV was the second band to hit the stage.  The first thing I noticed was how hawt the lead guitarist was.  Well...potentially hawt.  Ikumi has a very pretty face, but she "punks" up her look with dark makeup and tatoos.  And punk is the operative word here.  They are a straight ahead punk act.  They don't sing as much as scream the lyrics.  Actually, the most fun here was the bassist Kassan.  She seemed to be the loosest in the band, having fun and joking with the audience.  Of every performer, she seemed like she would be the best one to party with!

To be honest, this band isn't really my style.  I prefer something a little more melodic.  But I thought it was cute when the audience began to yell for an encore when the group had almost finished packing their gear.  They looked like they really wanted to unpack and play some more.  Oh well.  BTW, don't they have roadies for this show?  Each group set up and took down their own sets!

Cool Factor #1: Yoko's 60's-styled guitar sound.  My favorite musician of the night.
Cool Factor #2: Yoko's intro of "We are Noodles!"  Cutest thing ever!
WTF Factor #1:  They don't look like musicians at all.
WTF Factor #2:  Was the sound mixer on a coffee break?

I had heard of this band before, and I know they have played in San Francisco.  I really like their style of music.  Sort of a melodic grunge sound.  I really liked Yoko's guitar playing, she reminded me of the late Matthew Ashman of Bow Wow Wow.  Noodles are actually a band I could really grow to like...

Except I don't really get their style and image.  They actually look like a trio of housewives onstage.  Noodles could benefit from a serious rock n' roll makeover.  It was something I noticed with all three of the main groups.  They all needed an image upgrade.  That and a good roadie.  I could barely hear the singing throughout Noodles' set.  The guitar playing was excellent!  But they come across as three shy girls who play hard rock.  The good news is Ikuno (Bass) is actually cuter than her promo picture suggests.

BTW, during this set the 6%DokiDoki Girls came out to watch the set, and stood right next to me.  <3 <3.  I wanted to talk to them, but they left before I got the chance.  Once again, the blonde girl was a babe!

Cool Factor #1: Best pure musicians of the night.
Cool Factor #2: Powerpuff Girls association...very nice!
WTF Factor:  Once again, they need a "look" to be more memorable

I loved hearing my friend Arden's story (Erilaz on Vox) of getting to take this band out to Mel's Diner!  What a perfect SF experience.  If you ever vist the Bay Area, Mel's is a must visit.  Then again, so is Yoshi's.  The Soft-Shelled Crab Sandwich I had for dinner was great!  Of all of the bands, TsuShiMaMiRe was the tightest, musically speaking.  And they definitely had the best energy of the night.  I didn't know they had a tie-in with the Powerpuff Girls.  They were a lot of fun, especially their "Exercise Song"  The band has been around for ten years, and their experience shows.

I actually took off shortly before their set ended.  I had decided that as good as they were, they didn't have that spark I was looking for.  Would I see them again if I had the opportunity?  The answer is YES, but I wouldn't go out of my way.

In summary I had a lot of fun.  All of the groups did a great job, especially in the face of a predominantly Western audience who weren't familiar with their music.  That said, I didn't see anything that I found to be extraordinary.  Omodaka could be classified that way.  But a lot of that is because he is such a novelty.  My guess is he will go on to be an excellent producer.  His CD/DVD was the one souvenir I went home with.

Oh, and the 6%DokiDoki Girls!!!  Hehe, I will surely be visiting their stores during my next trip over!  Kawaii!!!

CK in California

 

I'm glad I check my email once in a while!

 

SCANDAL's first single from Sony is due out this Wednesday.  It is called Doll, and is available for purchase at CDJapan.  Here is the link.  My shopping list is getting to be huge for my trip next week!  But for $14 you get a CD and DVD, so that's pretty cool.  I haven't heard the song yet, hope it's good...actually...

 

I take that back.  Here is the single on YouTube.  Totally kick-ass, eh?  The girls look hot, it's a well produced PV.  Total WIN!!!  Now I'm definitely buying it!

CK in California

My stupid little boycott is over.

A couple of months ago there was a bit of a debate between the folks at japanfiles.com and LiveJournal over illegal file sharing on that blog site.  I threw in my two cents with this post sparking a small debate between Japanfiles and I, which you can read in that posts' comments.  It wasn't that I disagreed with them, it was just that I thought their argument was overly defensive and possibly alienating to their biggest supporters.  Ultimately I temporarily stopped listening to their web radio program at live365.com.

But I am over that now.  I have always liked what Japanfiles is doing.  All they are really guilty of is trying to expose Japanese rock music to the western fans, and helping their groups be a success.  So we are all on the same team and should be supporting one another and the music we mutually love.  I am happy to say I am back to listening to "Ketchup Mania Mondays", and as a result have picked up two new purchases...

Ketchup mania ~ L.O.V.E. (2007)

L.O.V.E was Ketchup Mania's third full length album, and was released August of last year.  While it isn't my favorite of their cd's, it does mark as sort of graduation from club band to professional rock group.  There is noticeable difference between this release and their previous effort, U.R.G.E.  The production values and packaging have been upgraded, and quite a few tracks have a "radio friendly" feel to them.  This trend has continued on their newest release, FLAG.  But whatever the trend, they continue to be an "in your face" hard rock band with an incredible lead singer!  Here is a sampling of my favorite tracks...

Track 2: Sunshine Girl ~  This is one of two songs with English lyrics on the CD.  And you can hear Lead Guitarist Dai's influence on the lyrics.  As it sounds like a guy talking to his girlfriend.  But the greatest thing is the echo effect put on Hiro's voice!  The rhythm of the song has a ska beat which was a lot more prominent on their indie releases.

**the two songs I usually skip on the CD is the first track BASTARDS! and the fourth track LIFE SIZE, which ironically is the CD's major single!  And it isn't that the first track is a bad song, it's just that Hiro isn't singing on it, which is the main appeal of this group to me**

Track 5: L.O.V.E. ~ This is my favorite track on the disc.  I love the little bells ringing in the background, and Wani's drumming is amazing.  It is a kick-ass, fast paced rock song.  And the clarity of Hiro's vocals are a great example of why she is so great.  She has such a pretty voice, and seems so shy and "normal" off stage.  Which is precisely what she was like standing outside The Independent in San Francisco.  But it also could have been that she was standing among a bunch of English speaking people.  But when she gets on stage, she is all business!

Track 7: MY manual ~  Another headbanger!  It was after hearing this on Live365 that I finally decided to buy this disc.  And the same can be said for Track 9, Hime no Omoi which is a great example of the contrast of Ketchup's frenetic pace and Hiro's angelic vocals.  LUCKY STAR is a very pretty and melodic song to end the CD.

Keep in mind when I am critical of a Ketchup Mania song, it is a comparative criticism.  I think just about everything they have done has been great.  More than H!P, more than AKB48, Ketchup Mania has been the most played artist on my CD player since the day I discovered them.  Greetings From Tokyo is still my favorite of all of their releases.  But this "more mature" version of KM is a solid purchase as well.  If you like this group, you will certainly like this CD.  As for my second purchase...

 Ketchup Mania ~ Everytime Music Freak (2003)

I just happened to come across one of KM's early mini-albums available cheap on EBay, so I snatched it up as quickly as I could.  And I love every song on it!  I know this is starting to sound like a big, boring lovefest.  But I am just so enamored with this group.  Their punk/ska roots are a lot more prevalent here.  And the English lyrics (on about half of the songs) are a laugh riot!  Their English is much improved on more recent releases, so somebody must be taking language lessons.  Oops that reminds me, where is my Rosetta Stone software?  I don't have any sample tracks for you, but if you've listened to the above links (or read any of my previous KM reviews) you get the basic idea.  I hope they are touring Japan when I make my next visit in October/November.  I would love to see them on their home turf.  In the meantime I will keep plugging this group until you all jump on the bandwagon, so get used to it!

And I still think Hiro is hot!

CK in California 

Official Website http://ketchup-mania.com/

This week I received my second Ketchup Mania CD...U.R.G.E

 

I loved "Greetings From Tokyo" so much, that it seemed fitting to sample their second full length CD.  I made many comments in the first review that their debut CD reminded me a lot of the first CD by The Ramones.  In many ways their second CD is reminiscent of The Ramones second CD, "Leave Home".  Where the first disc is straightforward punk/rock in successive short bursts, this CD is a bit more experimental.  KM keeps their basic sound, but branches out into different punk/rock styles and sounds.  This was definitely an attempt to "spread their wings" creatively.  The result was a couple of "near misses" surrounded by some creative gems.

This album had me thinking back to all of the punk bands I idolized so much in my youth.  Yes, like Nakazawa Yuko I was a bit of a punker in my formative years.  And it's easy to hear many punk influences above and beyond The Ramones on this album.  There are definitely some Dead Kennedys and Sex Pistols influences.  But what really grabs me are the similarites to my all time favorite L.A. punk band, "X".  HIRO has a tendency to sing a little "flat" on many of the tracks.  And no one sings flat quite as well as Exene Cervenka!  It's interesting, when I saw Ketchup Mania live I thought of them more as a straight rock n' roll group.

 

KM starts the album with a wierd intro (Welcome to the Ketchup World) much like their first disc.  It seems to be their signature bit.  But to be honest, it's my least favorite part of both CDs.  It then goes straight into their only "all English" track I've ever heard., KISS. (press the little button, it's the link to the song on lastfm)

 

This song reminds me a little bit of Hole (Courtney Love is another "flat" singer), but it's a great punk track.  There is no band quite like them, and they use a heavy echo dub on Hiro's voice.

 

The third track, Handcuffs of Love is pretty good.  Track 4 is the song I fell in love with at Japan Nite 2008.  Real Yaayo is a great example of the overall sound of the band.  I really love this PV (the only video I could find from the album)...

Track 5, TOKYO almost sounds like the rally chant for England's national Footie Team.  The musicianship on Doubt Mail sounds like like the classic sound of the Dead Kennedys.  All OK! is a pretty cool track, but the last two songs on the CD are by far my two favorites.  The first is Juicy Candy.  It's extremely fast-paced, and at the same time very melodic.  It's the one song on the CD I love listening to over and over again...

LAnd the CD ends with another great track, POP POP POP POP POP POP POP LOLLIPOP, which starts off like The Ramones' Rock and Roll High School.  I'm glad to hear them get back to their roots...

Although this CD holds up pretty well, I still prefer "Greetings From Tokyo" because I simply love more of the songs.  But I am really falling in love with this group (and obviously their lead singer)!  They sound great, and are a lot of fun to listen to.  And I'll give a little plug to japanfiles.com, where you can not only download their music, but listen to a one-hour block of KM every Monday night on their live365 radio show.  I hope they make it back to the U.S. very soon.  But I am planning to make two trips to Japan in the next eight months.  So I won't be too heartbroken if I have to see them on their own turf.

 Anything you say HIRO...CK in California

 

A couple of days ago I posted this review of Ketchup Mania's first full-length CD AND their newest single/PV.  Yesterday I e-mailed the link to the article to KM's site, this is the response I received...

When Radicalpatriot invited me to Japan Nite in San Francisco last March, the only band that really interested me was SCANDAL.  And why not?  AKB48 rocking out with guitars?  How hot is that?  SCANDAL was pretty cool, but what I didn't know was that I would leave the concert as a huge fan of another group all together.  And that band is Ketchup Mania!

Like Henkka, I can also be described as somewhat of a "metalhead"  The list of groups I have seen live includes Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Ozzy, Motorhead, Van Halen, Dokken, Twisted Sister, Guns n' Roses, Dio, and W.A.S.P..  Outside of J-pop and Hello! Project, My all time favorite artists are The Ramones, The Surf Punks, X, The Pixies, and 311.  I'm also a huge fan of The Smiths (I know, pretty random for this list)  I've now received my first of hopefully many Ketchup Mania purchases, their first full-length CD...

 Greetings From Tokyo - 2006

This is an unbelievably great album!  Every track is fast, furious, and features the amazing voice of the ultra-sexy HIRO.  There are many groups in the J-rock universe that have a punk/thrash sound with an Anime-styled lead singer.  Berry Roll is one I've heard, The Soap is another.  But no singer has the command of HIRO, and her sound is so unique.  The musicianship is ultra tight.  DAI's guitar work and WANI's drumming are lightning quick, but very crisp.  And they sound great live too!

 

The CD is a set of twelve under-2 minute songs in rapid succession.  In a way, their style could be described as repetitive.  But I love their style, so it doesn't bother me at all.  The CD in many ways reminds me of The Ramones first album.  Pretty much every song is great!  My favorite tracks...

Track 2 ~ BES-POSI  They go into a reggae style on the bridge, which is a great variation!  Like an amped up version of The Specials.  HIRO goes very high in her vocal range on the chorus. 

Track 3 ~ NAMIDA VACUUM SOUND  The guitar solo is a great variation of Wipeout by the Ventures.  Their second PV...

Track 7 ~ SUN FLOWER  This is my favorite song on the CD.  On almost every track, HIRO harmonizes with herself.  I'm pretty sure it's an overlapped track.  Twice the HIRO, twice the fun!  Many songs on this CD are just fast, but this one is one of the most melodic.  I wish I could find a video of this!

Track 8 ~ YOUR WORLD  For some reason, the guitar work on the chorus reminds me of the 80's alternative sound.  BTW, The sound on the PV is kinda low...

Track 9 ~ CANDLE ON THE BIRTHDAY CAKE  This song is so reminiscent of Bow Wow Wow, especially the intro guitar.  It's very melodic, with a caribbean rhythm to it.  My Japanese is weak at best, but I've never heard so many phrases end with the sound "lu"  What does that mean???

Track 10 ~  JINGLE BERRY  is my other favorite song, and just might be the best Christmas song ever made!!!  Sorry Bing!  Although it's slightly more "Christmas-y" than Spinal Tap's "Christmas with the Devil" and Dread Zeppelin's "Christmas in Las Vegas"  I'll be alternating between this and Sayumi and Koharu's "Merry Pinku Kurisumasu" this holiday season.  To me this is their best PV, simply because it is almost exclusively closeups of HIRO...

I love just about every song on this CD.  I highly recommend it.  I found it for a very reasonable price (new) on EBay, and YesAsia has a CD/DVD version.

You can hear Ketchup Mania every Monday night (10 eastern/7pacific) on the Japan Files channel on live 365.com.  There's a link posted on their MySpace page.  By the way, here is their brand new PV, Please! Marry Me!!!  Oh HIRO, if only...

I was surprised by the comparative "softness" in the beginning, but the song "rocks out" more as it progresses.  It sounds A LOT more polished and produced than "Greetings From Tokyo".  I believe they might be grooming them for a more mass market appeal!  The purists might not like it as much, but it is a step forward in their career.  When they become huge stars, I'll always have the memory of hanging out with them and having a smoke on Divisadero Ave. in San Francisco!  DAI's "Wedding March" guitar solo in the middle is awesome!  I just love when guitarists do "classical favorites" as solos.  The video is a continuation of the theme from their previous PV, BAD BAD BAD.  And I love the R. Crumb-styled animation!  Ya know, after listening to this song a few times, it's really starting to grow on me, very cool!

 

And by the way, did I mention HIRO is too friggin' HOT?  Even if she does deserve a Hall of Fame spot on my "Great Orthodontist Adventure"!!! 

CK in California