Kyoto, Japan-based garage punk outfit and JOVM MAINSTAYS Otoboke Beaver(おとぼけビ～バ～ in Japanese) — Accorinrin (vocals, guitar), Yoyoyoshie (guitar, vocals), Hirochan (bass, vocals) and Kahokiss (drums, vocals) — can trace their origins back to when the band’s members met at Kyoto University‘s music club.
Otoboke Beaver quickly built a profile both locally and nationally for their unique pairing of incredibly dexterous musicianship with Accorinrin’s confrontational stage presence. When Damnably Records released the Okoshiyasu!! Otoboke Beaver compilation, the Japanese punk rockers began to receive international airplay from BBC Radio 6′s Gideon Coe and Tom Ravenscroft, XFM’s John Kennedy, as well as praise from the likes of Pitchfork, NPR, i-D and The Fader.
Building upon their rapidly growing profile, the Japanese punk rockers made critically applauded, attention-grabbing appearances across the global festival circuit that included stops at SXSW, FujiRock Festival, and 2018’s Coachella Festival, as well as a lengthy UK tour with a sold-out show at London‘s 100 Club.
2019 saw the release of ITEKOMA HITS, an effort that featured “Anata Watashi Daita Ato Yome No Meshi” and “Don’t light my fire,” two feral rippers that possessed elements of noise punk, no wave, prog rock and riot grrl punk, as well as the breakneck “I’m tired of your repeating story.”
In early 2020, the Kyoto-based punk rockers quit their day jobs in order to embark on a highly-anticipated world tour to support ITEKOMA HITS. They were able to complete the two-week European leg but they were about to embark on their first Stateside tour ever when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, forcing the band to quickly return back home.
With touring out of the question, the band worked on new material, which they recorded between lockdowns at Osaka-based LM Studio. The end result is the band’s latest full-length effort, Super Champon. Released earlier this year through Damnably Records, the album’s title is derived from champon, a Japanese word that means a mixture or jumble of things of very different types.
“It’s a mixture of songs from love to food, life and JASRAC (Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers),” the band explains. “Our music is genre-less and has various elements. We hope that it will be our masterpiece of chaos music. It also sounds like champion.” Thematically, the album sees the band pushing band on the societal pressure to reproduce, calling out ridiculous judgements on what gives a woman value, and reacting to uninvited advice and comments from patronizing idiots and more.
In the lead-up to the album’s release, I managed to write about two album singles:
- “I am not maternal,” a defiantly feminist, breakneck, mosh pit friendly ripper meant to be played as loudly as humanly possible.
- “PARDON?,” a feral, tempo-shifting thrash punk ripper, full of furious riffage and howled lyrical refrains in English and Japanese. The song is a playful retelling of situation the band often finds themselves in: unrelenting, unsolicited and fervent points of views.
The acclaimed Kyoto-based punk rock/garage rock outfit will be embarking on a highly-anticipated, rapidly selling-out North American tour that includes a sold-out October 5, 2022 stop at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tour dates are below., and you can purchase tickets and check out more information here: https://www.otobokebeaver.com/tour/
Interestingly, the band’s latest single “Chu Chu Song” can trace its origins back to 2009 — and was the first song that they wrote together. Originally, only previously heard at live shows and as an exclusive to crowdfunding supports in 2017, the track derives its title from the Japanese onomatopoeia for “kiss kiss.” Unsurprisingly, the song is yet another furious ripper featuring scorching riffage paired with rapid-fire key changes and intricate vocal harmonies that thematically discusses the seemingly endless push and pull of relationships.
Before the band shared it as a standalone single, the track was featured on Adult Swim‘s Japan is Loud compilation curated by Toonami‘s Jonny Rej.
Super Champon 2022 Tour Dates
Sep 30 Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
Oct 2 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s (sold out)
Oct 3 Boston, MA @ The Sinclair
Oct 5 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (sold out)
Oct 6 Washington, DC @ Union Stage (sold out)
Oct 8 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle (sold out)
Oct 9 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle (sold out)
Oct 11 Denver, CO @ Globe Hall (sold out)
Oct 14 Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
Oct 15 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
Oct 16 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir (sold out)
Oct 18 San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
Oct 19 Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex (sold out)
Oct 20 Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex
Oct 21 San Diego, CA @ The Casbah (sold out)
Oct 22 Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room
Oct 25 Austin, TX @ Mohawk
Oct 26 Dallas, TX @ Tree’s
