With a large music industry such as Japan has, second largest in the world, it is inevitable that music fans will be inundated with a profusion of good (and also less good) music from this country. It is impossible to keep track of this and write a review about it per video. But to avoid missing out on gems, it is time for a weekly list of new music videos from lesser-known Japanese musical acts that are definitely worth watching. We are now looking back on a couple of videos that were released in week 47 of the year 2020. Enjoy the new discoveries!
Jam Fuzz Kid – Sunshine Highway
Jam Fuzz Kid are an indie rock band formed in Tokyo in the summer of 2018. The five-piece released their first EP a year later in September 2019 and gained attention with their aggressive sound and singable melodies and easily noticeable love for 90s rock from the United Kingdom. Jam Fuzz Kid will release their first album on November 25th of this year, the album is titled GOAT. — Recommended by Francisca
pachae – エゴイスティック・レスキュー (Egoistic rescue)
Based in Osaka and just started, the five-member pop band pachae is centred around Daisuke Otayama, who is the vocalist and guitarist of the band. He is responsible for everything from composing to recording to mixing with as result high addictive music, but the other members are able to put in the individuality of themselves into the music to create colourful, fun and relaxing tunes. — Recommended by Francisca
シロとクロ (Shirotokuro) – Tokyo fallin’
Formed in the summer of 2015 in the area of San’in, an area in the southwest of Honshu, rock band シロとクロ (Shirotokuro, meaning white and black) shortly after decided to move to Tokyo. In May 2018, they released their first mini-album and attracted a lot of attention with their first music video. They joined some music competitions and won them, including the grand prize in Project 110, that was sponsored by Nippon Colombia. They just released a digital EP, titled Your Song, after changing up the band line-up making it a four-piece. — Recommended by Francisca
GR call-mans – Mortal Song
Active since 2019 and based in Chiba Prefecture, rock band GR call-mans consists of three members. Not much can be found about GR call-mans. The band has mostly been focusing on performing and they just released their first single and music video, titled Mortal Song. The band name is intriguing because the meaning is not exactly clear (as well as how exactly to pronounce it), but it is already interesting to see what they are offering as a young band and it is waiting for the next release. — Recommended by Francisca
SOUTH BLOW – 依存症 (Isonshou)
Active for almost 20 years, BLOW SOUTH have quite some experience under their belt, including 3 full albums, the last one was released in 2018, 2 mini-albums and a couple of singles on their name, took the major route where they were part of RECORDS SPEEDSTAR (Victor Entertainment), and performed on many festivals. Now they are preparing the fans on the release of the third mini-album, the first release in three years, titled MONSTER, set for release by BLACK JACK RECORDS in the new year. — Recommended by Francisca
伊吹悠 (Yu Ibuki) – Skive!
Before launching his solo career in November of 2017, Yu Ibuki was active with his alternative rock band apostrophe from 2014 until the spring of 2017. Now the musician is focusing on producing music mixing his own world view of a new pop sound with heavy string and synthesizers. At the moment he has released three full albums and he is a completely unaffiliated independent artist. — Recommended by Francisca
ザ・モアイズユー (The Moaisyou) – 19
ザ・モアイズユー (The Moaisyou, where Moai has the meaning of ‘live in the future’) are an emotional rock band from Osaka consisting of three members. The band started when the members were still in school in 2016, although the line-up has changed a bit in the meantime. In February of this year, the band held their first independent project in Tokyo and Osaka. They released several demos, digital singles and a mini-album. It is now waiting for a full album. — Recommended by Francisca
Next week we will be back for a new list of new music videos to check out. But you can also look back to the earlier editions of this weekly article series for when you yearn for more musical gems!
