LAZYgunsBRISKY

DAD MOM GOD’s sound is swing-meets-ska in shark-skin suits. Produced by Sexystone Records, Tatsuya Nakamura of LOSALIOS contributed to four tracks on the band’s 1st album Poems like the Gun. DAD MOM GOD members are Tatsuyuki Hiyamuta (Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra), Junji Ikehata (ROCK’N'ROLL GYPSIES), Masaki Mori (EGO-WRAPPIN’), Kouji Ueno (the HIATUS), Dub Zombi (SOIL & “PIMP” SESSIONS) and numerous guest artists.

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Highly influenced by Number Girl who played hard guitar-driven rock — SuiseiNoboAz is a third generation alternative rock influence themselves. Taking that legacy, tearing it up and making it their own. SuiseiNoboAz members are Ishihara Masaharu-mpen (vocals, guitar), Sakurai Nori-ogre (drums) and Mizobuchi ‘vibes machine’ Narufumi (bass).


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Last week I went to a garage rock show. All of the bands were pretty similar. There was a band that wanted to sound like the Buzzcocks, but sucked. There was a band that wanted to sound like The Jam, and was tight! There was another band that didn’t really want to sound like anybody, but still sounded like the others, and, yes, those six Puerto Rican dudes on stage were also garage-rockin’. Back in the day I’m pretty sure that they didn’t even call it “garage” rock, it was just rock & roll! Carol’s “Funky Monkey Baby” is pretty much your archetypal rock & roll jam, but something sets this song apart from the countless others who’ve made the same song.

It probably isn’t the cheesy-ass lyrics about being head over heels in love with a girl. It probably isn’t the goofy English catchphrases sprinkled about the lyrics (”Baby I’m blue…”). It definitely isn’t Yazawa Eikichi’s preposterous faux-American accent while singing in Japanese. It probably isn’t the wanky guitar solo at the beginning of the song (okay, maybe it is). I’m actually rather ashamed, but I don’t really know why I like this song, but it’s genius. Before dudes started driving around with ‘E. Yazawa’ decals on the backs of their hatchbacks, and before a horrible band named themselves after this song, Carol was actually a cool band.

B-side “Coffee Shop no Onna no Ko” fills the other old rock & roll archetype of the sentimental 6/8 slow jam. Arpeggiated guitars tinkle up and down, reverb abounds and all is well with the rock & roll gods. Carol is on the money with this one too.

Here’s a video of a live performance of “Funky Monkey Baby”. It’s pretty obvious that the crowd is getting rowdy in front, but the camera only does closeups of the dorkiest, Happy Days-looking people in the audience. Nice.

2. Sour - Hibi no Neiro (日々の音色)
I can’t even imagine the amount of planning and coordination that went into pulling it off, but how awesome is this video? It definitely makes up for the mediocrity of the music. The water drop scene is particularly awesome, but I’m still noticing awesome new stuff in the video every time I watch.

3. Meg - Precious
Like the Sour video, this one uses some decidedly lo-tech tricks to achieve ultimate cuteness. Plus, who can argue with gratuitous dancing cats?

4. Yellow Magic Orchestra - Rydeen
Lasers. Check! UFOs. Check! Flying, rotating, cyber keyboard ghost. Check!

5. Ging Nang Boyz - I Don’t Wanna Die (あいどんわなだい)
This video is about as pretentious, crass, and sophmoric as any I’ve ever seen. It’s also one of the most fun. If you can make it through all 15 minutes, I applaud you.

あいどんわなだい(AIDONWANADAI)

あいどんわなだい(AIDONWANADAI)

GING NANG BOYZ | MySpace Video

I think that we all recognize that look, the “What the hell are you talking about, you moron!” look, right guys? Lord knows we’ve all earned one at one time or another. It’s that look on Takaki Mio’s face that made me pick up this record. Am I a sucker for suffering or something?

The A-side, “Dance wa Umaku Odorenai”, starts with a light guitar hitting the upbeats, making for a kind of airy reggae sound. This is broken up by some sharp kick hits in the chorus parts that add a bit of a tango-esque herky-jerkiness.　Some mandolin and violin accentuate the melancholy nature of the song, while the dreamy lyrics abound with dance this, dance that, dance to forget about you-type sentiments.

“Hankou - Resistance” keeps the upbeats of the A-side, but is actually an upbeat song to boot. Takaki sings about French navy boys and punk girls, harbor mornings, dancing (again), and really manages to create a fun, carefree mood. The song flirts with ska and jazz, especially when the clarinet comes in, but it takes on a folky-French twang when the accordion cascades in and out of the tune. For some reason, I imagine some 80’s looking Euro-hipsters riding on gondolas through an urban canal, laughing and being all-around merry when I hear this song.

Takaki’s voice isn’t anything special, but I must admit to really liking this record. It’s definitely a lot better than getting chewed out by your girlfriend!

Yamaguchi Momoe has become one of my favorite singers amongst all of those I’ve discovered through the bargain bins. I was especially excited when I found this record since the high-contrast cover looks more like a punk rock record than the alluringly gloomy look of most of her records. I guess I have no one to blame but myself for having such high hopes just based upon a record cover. “Rock ‘n’ Roll Widow” turned out to be just another cookie-cutter rock and roll song, as if Yamaguchi’s team of songwriters were downwind from a farting Brian Setzer when they wrote the song. “Rock ‘n’ roll” this, “rock ‘n’ roller” that, “superstar”, blah blah blah. As if the music wasn’t trite enough, the lyrics take the Japanese love for meaningless English slogans to an annoying extreme. On top of it all, Yamaguchi’s voice isn’t cut out for this sort of song. There’s no edge to her voice, you could almost say that her voice is too good (and thus, too bad) for a song like this.

Luckily, the b-side, “Apocalypse Love,” manages to rescue the record with a sort of “Eye of the Tiger” meets “The Wall” vibe to it. The dark dramaticism of the song is a much better match for Yamaguchi’s voice, and the lyrics are equally heavy, with all sorts of, well, apocalyptic imagery, about a crumbling Babylon and biblical prophecies. If side-A was Yamaguchi’s attempt at making a “rock ‘n’ roll” song, then side-B is her actually succeeding, without all the wasted effort and misguided attitude.

Just a few months after this single was released Yamaguchi retired for good at the ripe old age of 21. Makes me wonder what I’ve been doing in my 25 years of life, that someone else can drop it all at 21 and be content with themselves… Wait a minute, I’m writing record reviews on a weblog! Hooray for me!

Sakakibara Ikue had just turned 21 when she released her 18th single, “Yume Miru My Boy” (which roughly translates into “My Dream Boy”). However, by the way she was smiling on the cover, I thought that she looked like a 13 year old whose braces had just been removed. Plus, her tomboy haircut and the little string of pearls draped around the collar of her prim and proper blouse only added to that impression. Upon first listen, the song certainly seemed to live up to such an image, with lyrics like “My boy my special boy, I want you, hold me, hold me” (roughly translated, again). Upon further listens though, there’s a definitely more mature thread of lyrics, as Sakakibara sings out, “Your love hurts, like I’m being ridiculed” and “I wake up and immediately it’s lonely, by myself here in bed.”

Even though the lyrics aren’t necessarily the most innocent, the ridiculous 50’s rock & roll cum 80’s theme-song vibe of the music is about as bubblegum as you can get! The song starts out with some little rubber zoomy sounds and a tom-heavy drumbeat, then launches into the main hook of the song which combines a triumphant guitar lead with a cheesy, synthy sax. Little oohs and ahs back up Sakakibara’s surprisingly nice, if non-descript, voice. The B-side, “Koi no Chance Maker,” could be described very similarly, sans the awesomeness of the soaring guitar hook. I seriously listened to “Yume Miru My Boy” a dozen times in a row just to hear that wailing a few more times.

All in all, not a bad discovery for a mere 52 yen! Thanks again to my favorite record store in Nagoya for old J-pop, Greatest Hits!

27 years ago to this day, for those of us in this time zone anyway, Yakushimaru Hiroko’s first single exploded onto the Japanese pop charts. The song, entitled “Sailor Fuku to Kikanju” (Sailor Suit and Machine Gun), was the theme song to a movie of the same name in which Yakushimaru herself starred. Because I unfortunately have yet to see the movie, I’m not sure what a melancholy love song has to do with a movie about a teenage yakuza heiress with an AK-47, but I sure as heck want to find out!

While listening to this for the first time with my bargain record hunting partner Randy, he mentioned how it had this sort of nostalgic quality about it, as if we had already heard this song a hundred times before. The melody is indeed that good, instrumentally and vocally. As with most pop starlets and idols, I might say that this song would be equally good had anyone else sung it, and certainly the version put out under the title “Yume no Tochuu” by songwriter Kisugi Takao is a great song in itself. But, the truth is that, despite having only been 17 at the time, Yakushimaru’s voice has a sort of simple world-weariness to it that really shines through in a sad song about bidding “sayonara” to a former love. Her voice shakes, rises and falls, with a slight vibrato that sounds more regal than your average cutesy idol. Released in the same month as Kisugi’s version, Yakushimaru’s single hit #1 on the Oricon charts.

The single’s b-side, “Atarimae no Niji” (Ordinary Rainbow), isn’t as driving or dramatic as the single itself, but it’s tinkling piano and lyrics about a crumbling relationship manage to even be more gloomy! It’s definitely a great complement.

Here’s video of Yakushimaru performing the song with Kisugi, a bit older with a slightly more refined voice. Enjoy!