The greatest thing about music, in general, is its universality. Whether the song is in a language we speak or one we barely understand, that doesn’t stop us from feeling something; a connection, or that wave of pins and needles where the melody just feels fantastic. Some people would say you need to understand the lyrics to understand the message, but I think anyone who has listened to Japanese music would strongly disagree.
For many, Japanese music is pop idols and anime opening rock bands. Don’t get me wrong – I jam to Perfume and Asian Kung-Fu Generation pretty much daily. But like anywhere else, for every well-known band, there are dozens we’ve never heard of performing their hearts out in live houses and releasing splits on Bandcamp. So while I have hundreds of bands to recommend, here are 5 bands from Japan you should be listening to.
PENs+
Growing up, when I wasn’t leaning into my punk playlists, I was very much into math rock and emo tunes. So when I found PENs+ during a 4:00am Bandcamp surf, I fell in love.
PENs+ is a four-piece band from Tokyo who describes their sound as “emo math-rock post-hardcore”, which is pretty accurate. They’ve found an interesting way to interlace the complexity of math-rock with these raw emo-inspired melodies and the right vocals to back it up.
They’ve been fairly quiet in recent years, with their last full album being released in 2015 and a split with Leers (another band that’s not on this list but you should totally check out on Spotify) in 2017. Hopefully the pop up again soon, because after you dig through their discography, you’re definitely going to want more.
Mass of the Fermenting Dregs
Mass of the Fermenting Dregs is probably one of the more well-known underground bands, but for the uninitiated, they’re a post-hardcore shoegaze trio hailing from Kobe.
I had the absolute pleasure of seeing this band live in Toronto (through the yearly Next Music from Tokyo tour, which you should check out if you’re in the Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal areas) . They were an absolute favourite of mine years before seeing front-woman Natsuko Miyamoto take the stage, but I can say wholeheartedly that this is a band that needs to be seen live. The energy their music emits through your headphones is only amplified tenfold when this band takes the stage.
Much like every single song, this band has put out, Miyamoto and her bandmates have a seemingly unending source of energy, barely breaking a sweat while grinding out their tunes. After reforming in 2015 and releasing some new music in the last couple of years, their sound has definitely changed from their earlier work, but still retains that Masu Dore charm longtime fans have come to love them for.
Dalljub Step Club
This is another group I saw perform live at Next Music from Tokyo. I’ll admit I wasn’t super keen on them until they played their second song, but they were one of the best live performances I’ve seen to date. They were incredibly down to earth, maintained such an enormous stage presence, and couldn’t help but crack a joke between songs (they were proud to introduce us to the word bukkake, to provide context for their desire to bukakke their music all over us).
When I’m recommending Dalljub Step Club, I always say “if you loved the music of Jet Set Radio, then you’re going to love this”. They mix a ton of musical styles together (dubstep, hip-hop, techno, jungle, rave — the list goes on) to create this oddly nostalgic sound that makes you feel like you’ve been listening to them for years.
Sub-recommendation: Shingen Mori, the vocalist, also plays in a funky rock band called Alaska Jam, which has a bit more of mainstream energy, but even across genres and groups, his energy remains the exact same.
Regal Lily
Regal Lily is a three-piece shoegaze-rock band formed by three high-school friends from Tokyo. While this sounds like something every musically inclined trio of pals tends to do, Regal Lily has a raw talent not found in your run-of-the-mill high-school band.
The vocalist Honoka has an impressive range as a singer which immediately drew me in. The first song they played started with a soft, sombre melody. When the song reached the chorus, she started belting out this raw, near-screaming sound that completely caught me (and everyone I know who I’ve forced to listen to them) off guard.
When the guy who ran Next Music from Tokyo introduced Regal Lily for the opening act, he told us to enjoy the set, because when they got back to Japan, they were going to blow up, and they absolutely did. They’ve since amassed over 3 million views on their song Rickenbacker and performed a cover of Asian Kung-Fu Generation’s Mustang on the AKG Tribute album (which I know must have been super exciting; I talked to Honoka when she was wandering Lee’s Palace. She didn’t speak much English but she told me she loved Asian Kung-Fu Generation).
Number Girl
Like Mass of the Fermenting Dregs, those who jump down the Japanese indie rabbit hole have probably heard of Number Girl. For those who haven’t, this is certainly the band to start with. Their music combines a number of rock subgenres, including noise and experimental, exuding an absolutely raw, unhinged sound they’ve come to be loved for.
After a somewhat unsuccessful debut in 1995, the band eventually found success in 1998, when they were signed by Toshiba EMI. They were often seen playing in live houses with other well-known indie acts like Eastern Youth and Bloodthirsty Butchers, and also managed to attract the attention of Dave Fridmann (the producer of American rock band Flaming Lips), who produced a number of their singles and albums even after the band broke up and formed other groups.
I’ve had a lot of people tell me, after recommending them, that Number Girl tangentially reminds them of other bands, namely Asian Kung-Fu Generation, tricot and TOUMING MAGAZINE. The great thing about that is that each of those bands has cited Number Girl as a major influence on their work, which just goes to show you that sometimes the most inspiring music can often be found playing at the back of a bar on a Tuesday approaching midnight.
At the end of the day, music is what will bring us together, no matter who we are and where we are. Hopefully, you’ve found something you like in the bands above. Now it’s your turn. Do you have a Japanese band you really dig but never see anyone talking about? Sound off in the comments below!
