A picture of her is a mostly instrumental post-rock group from Minamihoncho. Tono Shogo (guitar) and Kikuchi Hiroshi (bass) formed the band as a trio in 2004 and Tago Wataru (guitar) and Kameyama Yuzo (drums) joined in 2008. They released their first EP A Fanatic Socialist Looked Up At the Stars… a year later. Their first album titled C, was released in May and was mixed by Takaaki Mino from toe. It’s available at CD Japan and Amazon.
GalapagosS is a new wave/punk band from Tokyo. Formed in 2010, the trio includes Sharaku Kobayashi (vocals, guitar) and Shintaro (drums), who have played in metronome and FLOPPY together, and Gokimi. (bass). Although their get up is very similar to Polysics, their sound is more influenced by chiptune and video game music. The band is named after the Japanese term “Galápagos Syndrome,” which refers to a current phenomenon where Japanese people seem to be evolving inwards instead of being affected by globalization.
Their second album Run Like Fury will be released on July 3. The rest of their music is already available at CD Japan.
http://www.myspace.com/galapagoss
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Unkie is a math rock band from Tokyo. They formed in 2006, originally intending to play one gig together, but decided to stay together permanently releasing their first album The Price of Fame a year later. The trio consists of Tokie (bass), Yutaka Aoki (guitar) and Hiroshi Kido (drums) who have all played in established Japanese rock bands such as downy and Rize. Their second album Too Many Secrets was recorded in Chicago with Steve Albini of Nirvana fame and released in 2008. Their latest album Forest Vamp was released earlier this May and is available at CD Japan and digitally worldwide at Amazon and iTunes.
The musical collective drawing4-5 formed in 1999 and is based in Tokyo. The band is lead by Hamada Satoshi aka mcatm with an average of 5-7 members performing live, although over a dozen members participated in their latest release Thorn. Their songs are usually improvised live and chopped together with samples on the computer. Ranging from lo-fi rock to folk to ambient noise, you never know what you’re going to get with drawing4-5. You can find all of their albums at their bandcamp page.
Curlys (カーリーズ) is an all girl pop band from Nagoya. Tommy (guitar/vocals), Mayu (guitar/vocals), Manamin (bass) and Curly (drums) formed the band in the spring of 2009 after meeting in an American studies group at Nanzan University. Their first album Etiquette was produced by Akihiro Sugiyama from Doimoi and released in 2012. They announced their hiatus on March 15 before the release of their new 7″ single Baby Blue. You can grab their album at Jet Set Records.
Squeezemen (スクイズメン) is an indie pop band from Hyogo that formed in 1998. The current lineup is Atsushi Inoue (vocals, guitar), Kei Miyoshi (keyboards), Kei Konno (bass) and Naoyuki Kageyama (drums). The original lineup, which included Inoue and Miyoshi who met as Kobe City University students, released three EPs and their first album La Pyramid on Shining April Records. After member changes and a hiatus, they released their second album Emeraldrum in 2011. This year they have released two singles, Alice and Forrest Bump. You can find their old albums at CD Japan and their new material at Jet Set Records.
Shotgun Runners is a rock and roll band from Ishikawa. Formed in 1999 by rhythm and blues enthusiasts Kemmy Mojoworker (vocals, guitar) and Terry Shotgun (drums), Shotgun Runners infuses 60s British rock with Chicago blues and soul. After several member changes, Johnny Go joined the Runners on bass. In 2005, Majestic Sound Records released Shotgun Runners’ first album I Love You Rock’n’Roll. The label also released their second album Dedicated To the Rock’n’Roll Boy in 2011 and will release their third album The Two Face of Children’s Boogie on May 22. Preorder the album now at CD Japan.
Within the last wish is a hardcore band from Yokohama. They formed in 2005 after the breakup of IRRIVALY and the current lineup is Ken (vocals), Hatano (guitar), Lin (guitar), Umehara (bass) and Yu-Ichi (drums). Their first mini-album The World Is Painted Out was released in April 2009 by Theory & Practice Records. In 2010 they released a split EP with screamo band IZP. Their new 4-track EP Still Talk About A Dream is due out sometime this month. Watch the lyric video for the title-track below.
Hearsays is an indie pop band from Fukuoka that formed in 2012. The members are Zebra (vocals, guitar), Taito (vocals, guitar), Mataro (bass) and Oie (drums). Vocal duty is split between male and female vocals, but mostly relies on the sweet female vocals. Their song “The Blind” was featured on Dead Funny’s first compilation earlier this year and the label released Hearsays’ first EP A Little Bird Told Me in March. You can buy it digitally on Dead Funny’s bandcamp or on cassette tape at Jet Set Records.
385 is a hardcore jazz trio from Okinawa. Miya (bass, vocals) and Tengan (drums) formed 385 in 2008 after Miya’s previous all-girl punk band Bleach 03 broke up. Their first mini album Nomiso Arao was released in 2010. Musically, 385 is very similar to early midori (ミドリ) albums, with heavy screaming and jazzy instruments. This should come as no surprise as Nomiso Arao was the first release on Hakai Music, midori vocalist Mariko Goto’s record label, and Hajime (ex-midori) even served as support member in 2011. In 2012 Masayuki Hasuo (ex-school food punishment) joined 385 as their keyboardist.
This May, 385 will release their first album Ningen. Preorder it at CD Japan.
J-Rock Explosion 