Puffyshoes is a vintage pop rock duo from Tokyo. Formed in 2009, Usagi Hops (guitar, vocals) and Neko Meows (drums, vocals) began recording right away releasing CDs and tapes from Canada to Japan. Their first album Something Gold was released in 2010 by French label Social Alienation. In 2011 they played SXSW in Austin and released their second albumFinally the Weekend in Japan that summer. The girls took a break soon after when Neko Meows announced she was pregnant. Their latest release is Spaceshit Volume 1, a zine + CD-R with one new song and 16 covers. Download their albums at Amazon MP3 and watch out for their new album later this year.
The hardcore jazz trio 385 finally released their first album earlier this month and it’s as crazy as its lead single. Don’t let the slow piano intro fool you!
sloppy joe- “Once and For All”
It’s hard to tell what’s going on in this video with all the washed out colors, but that’s not going to matter when euphoria strikes after the trumpet hits its stride.
Momo Kazuhiro- “Rock’n’roll Heart (Is Here To Stay)”
Mo’some Tonebender’s fearless leader is once again on the road in support of his second solo album. This extra long single has plenty of rock’n’roll staples, such as the never ending do-do-do’s.
There’s a lot of saxophone on the radio these days, it only makes sense for 6eyes to sax up their new single. Plus there’s a lot of cool things in this video, like a crossdressing drummer and a disgruntled office worker who grows dreadlocks overnight.
If you’re reading this you’re probably not down in Austin watching a ton of great bands and films. Like me. But don’t fret, this week’s J-Rock Fridays is SXSW themed. This is not a complete list of all the Japanese bands playing at SXSW. Just the ones who had their video uploaded to SXSW’s YouTube page. Plus a few I’d be remiss not to post.
Tornado Boyz- “Ich Bin Auslaender”
German rap? Really? I don’t know how foreigner Daisuke met up with this Berlin-based band but this video is endlessly amusing.
Isobe Masafumi, formerly of Husking Bee and Mars Eurythmics, has decided to go solo and got Toru Hidaka of Beat Crusaders to tag along and produce his first single. It’s a fun pop song with plenty of screeching synths. The single release, which has a very Beat Crusaders-esque cover, also features peeps from Asian Kung-Fu Generation, Asparagus, and Cubismo Grafico Five.
J-Rock Explosion 