Tag: LM Studio

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstays Otoboke Beaver Shares a New Ripper

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.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Otoboke Beaver Shares a Dizzying and Breakneck Ripper

 Kyoto, Japan-based garage punk act 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 member while being in Kyoto University‘s music club. 

The Kyoto-based punk outfit quickly built a profile locally and nationally for pairing incredibly dexterous musicianship with Accorinrin’s confrontational stage presence. But when Damnably Records released the Okoshiyasu!! Otoboke Beaver compilation, Otoboke Beaver began to amass 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 a rapidly growing profile, the band made critically applauded, attention-grabbing appearances across the international festival circuit with stops at SXSW and FujiRock Festival. Their extensive global touring included a sold-out show at London‘s 100 Club. 2018 included an extensive UK tour and a stop at that year’s Coachella Festival.

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 straightforward yet breakneck “I’m tired of your repeating story.” 

At the beginning of 2020, the members of Otoboke Beaver quit their office days jobs in order to embark on a world tour. They completed a two week European tour and were about to embark on their first Stateside tour when the COVID-19 pandemic forced global quarantines and lockdowns. With touring out of the question, the band worked on new material, which they recorded between lockdowns at Osaka-based LM Studio. 

The acclaimed, Japanese punk outfit’s newest album Super Champon is slated for a May 6, 2022 release through their longtime label home Damnably. The album’s title is derived from champon, a Japanese word that means a mixture or jumble of things of 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.” 

Earlier this month, I wrote about “I am not maternal,” a defiantly feminist, breakneck, mosh pit friendly ripper meant to be played as loudly as humanly possible. The album’s latest single “PARDON?” is 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 miscommunication of unsolicited and fervent points of views.

The accompanying lyric video is full of rapid-fire cuts and edits, which help emphasize the song’s glitchy stop-start nature while capturing the band’s infectious, raucous and playful energy.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Otoboke beaver Share Anime and Manga Inspired Visual for Breakneck Ripper “I Am Not Maternal”

 Kyoto, Japan-based garage punk act 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 member while being in Kyoto University‘s music club.

The Kyoto-based punk outfit quickly built a profile locally and nationally for pairing incredibly dexterous musicianship with Accorinrin’s confrontational stage presence. But when Damnably Records released the Okoshiyasu!! Otoboke Beaver compilation, Otoboke Beaver began to amass 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 a rapidly growing profile, the band made critically applauded, attention-grabbing appearances across the international festival circuit with stops at SXSW and FujiRock Festival. Their extensive global touring included a sold-out show at London‘s 100 Club. 2018 included an extensive UK tour and a stop at that year’s Coachella Festival.

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 straightforward yet breakneck “I’m tired of your repeating story.”

At the beginning of 2020, the members of Otoboke Beaver quit their office days jobs in order to embark on a world tour. They completed a two week European tour and were about to embark on their first Stateside tour when the COVID-19 pandemic forced global quarantines and lockdowns. With touring out of the question, the band worked on new material, which they recorded between lockdowns at Osaka-based LM Studio.

The acclaimed, Japanese punk outfit’s newest album Super Champon is slated for a May 6, 2022 release through their longtime label home Damnably. The album’s title is derived from champon, a Japanese word that means a mixture or jumble of things of 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.” 

Super Champon will feature two singles the band released back in 2020, “I am not maternal” and “Dirty old fart is waiting for my reaction.” “I am not maternal” continues a run of defiantly feminist, breakneck, mosh pit friendly ripper: big power chords, thunderous drumming and shouted lyrics. Play this one as loud as humanly possible.

The accompanying animated visual was created and animated by the band’s Yoyoyoshie and fittingly it’s an explosive array of bright colors, manga and anime-like characters getting fed up over traditional gender roles.