Comments on: Japanese punk

Question: Japanese punk

Taksi Putra — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 02:53:30 -0800

Japanese punk recommendations please. Era irrelevant. That is all. Thank you.

By: armage

armage — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 03:04:39 -0800

Well, there's The Blue Hearts, but I don't know if that's too mainstream for you...

By: Aznable

Aznable — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 03:23:05 -0800

Lolita No 18

By: Mil

Mil — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 03:23:46 -0800

Guitar Wolf

By: No-sword

No-sword — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 03:53:51 -0800

When I read this post I realized that there was a strong possibility you had not heard Meshi kuu na! (メシ喰うな！) by Inu (Machida Kō's first band). The idea sent a chill down my spine. Run, don't walk.

By: dunkadunc

dunkadunc — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 04:00:34 -0800

COBRA!

(oi oi oi!)

By: macdara

macdara — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 04:03:45 -0800

Punk, particularly in Japan, is a broad church. With that caveat, I recommend Boredoms, Melt-Banana and Acid Mothers Temple.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 04:38:40 -0800

Seconding the Melt Banana recommendation. They not only tear it up big time, but are wonderful folks, to boot!

I also heartily recommend Kirihito (that link features pix of them as well as Melt Banana and others). One of the members of Kirihito (drummer Cob, that is Kobu-chan), by the way, runs a club in Okubo (just down the street from Shin-Okubo station, Yamanote line) called Earthdom, which features mainly punk and noise shows. I just played there the other night: they have a great PA.

By: Mach5

Mach5 — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 05:13:49 -0800

Boris!
Boredoms!

By: anarchivist

anarchivist — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 05:20:13 -0800

Yeah, I guess this really depends on what you consider "punk" (I don't agree with macdara that Acid Mothers Temple are, for instance).

Japanese hardcore is all over the place, but arguably the two most well known ("classic"?) examples being GISM and Gauze.

By: Ghidorah

Ghidorah — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 05:22:46 -0800

I need to call a warning on the Boredoms. They're more of an avant garde noise collective. If you're into it, cool, but if you're not (vivid memories of seeing Nirvana in Kalamazoo. The Meatpuppets went over all right as an opening act. The Boredoms did not.)

It depends on the punk you want. Check out (mostly English/non-mangled lyrics) Ellegarden, sort of a pop-punk fun band, Asian Kungfu Generation for your more glasses wearing emo-punk, Go!Go!7188 for your hot girl 50's pop crossed with punk, Shakalabbits for some ska-punk, or, for the absolute best video ever, Bloodthirsty Butchers, a more indies/punk band.

There's also Ore No Ska Bando, who played at the Warped Tour this summer. High school girls from Osaka playing ska, you can't ask for more.

My first, though, was Mongol 800, or as they're commonly known, Manpachi, silly pop-punk from Okinawa.

Those are off the top of my head, and I have, and enjoy, albums by all of them.

By: misozaki

misozaki — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 05:32:41 -0800

Hi-Standard.

By: p3t3

p3t3 — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 05:39:34 -0800

Seconding the Inu recommendation, as someone who prefers poppy or post-punk like Plastics and P-Model rather than the noisier stuff. Oh and Plastics and P-Model :)

By: misozaki

misozaki — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 05:40:10 -0800

Okay, if Machida Machizo (Ko) is gonna be mentioned in this thread, then we can't let The Stalin by Michiro Endo go by unmentioned. Here you go.

By: toddst

toddst — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 05:55:44 -0800

My favorite Japanese label is Snuffy Smiles. A few of the Japanese bands that recorded with them also released stuff on Broken Rekids, including some of my favorites (Sprocket Wheel, Blew, Watercloset, and The Urchin). Dave Parasite of the Parasites also put out a pretty good compilation about ten years ago or so.

By: JoanArkham

JoanArkham — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 06:00:19 -0800

Second vote for Guitar Wolf. Always, and forever.

(They are Ramones-style punk.)

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 06:12:26 -0800

Mrs. flapjax would like to add Uchoten and Laughin' Nose to this hallowed list of J-punk.

By: Ghidorah

Ghidorah — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 06:26:38 -0800

Oh, also Nicotine. Kind of a silly, early Green Day kind of punk band. Also English lyrics, slightly fractured.

Oh, and if you like ska-punk, Kemuri is the god of all that is good, though they decided to call it quits last year.

By: The Straightener

The Straightener — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 06:30:15 -0800

This wiki on Japanese hardcore has a bunch of bands you might want to check out.

By: fearfulsymmetry

fearfulsymmetry — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 06:30:22 -0800

Stance Punks

By: eatdonuts

eatdonuts — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 06:59:04 -0800

no one is going for the ultimate classic! the blue hearts!

train train
linda linda

By: eatdonuts

eatdonuts — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 06:59:32 -0800

damn armage, didn't see ya there.

By: mullacc

mullacc — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 07:16:32 -0800

When I was into Guitar Wolf, I also loved Teengenerate and the Registrators.

By: beerbajay

beerbajay — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 07:50:02 -0800

Punk: Fuck on the Beach.
New wave, but you should know The Plastics.
And the amazingly named, but ska, Snail Ramp.

By: elmono

elmono — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 07:59:25 -0800

Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Ker

By: GilloD

GilloD — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 08:17:13 -0800

Eastern Youth!

They have a kind of pop-punky sound, but with super gnarly guitars and a lot of shout alongs. They're noted for their wacky live performances. Totally worth your time.

By: The Wig

The Wig — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 09:23:05 -0800

How did we get this far without someone mentioning
Envy??
They've been together forever. They started playing hardcore, quickly evolved into an incredible screamo band and now they sound vaguely like Mogwai. Without a doubt one of the biggest Japanese screamo/punk/hardcore bands in NA.

By: zennoshinjou

zennoshinjou — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 09:27:51 -0800

Hell yes to Eastern Youth. they were my introduction to the genre as practiced in Japan.

By: zennoshinjou

zennoshinjou — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 09:28:12 -0800

Envy is also good.

By: trip and a half

trip and a half — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 09:37:06 -0800

Shonen Knife. That is all. You're welcome.

By: Artw

Artw — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:25:42 -0800

eX-Girl are apparently pop, not punk, but they sounded pretty punk to me. Also awesome.

By: pantsrobot

pantsrobot — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:04:31 -0800

Go!Go!7188 surfy pop-punk

By: pantsrobot

pantsrobot — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:05:27 -0800

Oops, and everything else that Ghidorah already said

By: ifjuly

ifjuly — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:43:05 -0800

Les Rallizes Denudes Live '77 album (just recently made more available again, on Forced Exposure I think...) is a total stretch I think, but my boyfriend pointed out by this time the head guy was "reinvigorated" by the Japanese punk scene. So...maybe.

By: infinitywaltz

infinitywaltz — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:50:34 -0800

The Gaia were an awesome all-female hardcore band in the '90s. I saw them play in a pizza place in Davis, CA a decade and a half or so ago. If you can find a copy of their debut album, Kick Up Ass!, on CD anywhere, get it! Then burn yourself a copy and sell it to me. Otherwise, their second album, This One, and their "best of" collection, 777, also come highly recommended.

By: arcanecrowbar

arcanecrowbar — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:37:21 -0800

Thread needs more Thee Michelle Gun Elephant.

By: NemesisVex

NemesisVex — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:37:40 -0800

NUMBER GIRL, although they've broken up, but each member went on to form other bands:

toddle
VOLA & THE ORIENTAL MACHINE
ZAZEN BOYS
SLOTH LOVE CHUNKS (No link because I think they've broken up as well)

Not really punk, but Shiina Ringo can get pretty hard. She's also good friends with the folks in NUMBER GIRL.

Some others I can think of:

ART-SCHOOL
STRAIGHTENER
unkie
fra-foa (that one might be a stretch)

I can probably post another few suggestions after I've browsed my collection a bit.

By: macdara

macdara — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 15:26:19 -0800

I don't agree with macdara that Acid Mothers Temple are, for instance

Fair enough, I guess most people would call them 'psychedelic' but I didn't really hear that in the incarnations I've seen them in.

I should also have mentioned Envy earlier; I saw them play live this summer just gone and they blew me away so much I ordered three of their albums online as soon as I could.

Fuck on the Beach are power-violence; like grindcore, technically a punk subgenre but oft classified as extreme metal. I dig that kind of stuff, but it might be too much for some.

If noise rock isn't too leftfield of the punk-o-scope, I highly recommend Ruins. For the most part, just bass and drums, like Lightning Bolt, but far awesomer (plus the drummer is simply astounding).

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:21:43 -0800

(plus the drummer is simply astounding).

He is Yoshida Tatsuya, and aside from his work with Ruins, he is very active on the Tokyo/Japan/international creative music scene.

By: flibbertigibbet

flibbertigibbet — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 06:41:42 -0800

Super Junky Monkey?