And now, strange ways to discover local bands, part two. It shouldn’t be any surprise I follow a number of Japanese shoegaze concert promoters on socials; I find it a good way to discover new acts from that part of the world. Recently, I’d noticed a series of posts and ads from one of them, Dreamwaves, for an upcoming tour by a band called the neverminds. Noted, but not investigated. Then last week I saw a post by Japanese dreampop blog Sleep Like A Pillow that featured an interview with the band; I scan it, note they name drop a lot of acts I like from both the west and the east, and appreciating that the site has taken the time to translate the interview into English, I make a further mental note to give them a listen.
When I get around to it, I search for them on Bandcamp and expect to see something like “Tokyo” or “Osaka” in their bio. Instead… it’s Toronto. Ohhhhkay. So it turns out they indeed locals, and their two EPs – nevermind, the summer, released last Summer, and nevermind, the winter, released this February, have captured the attention of the J-gaze scene and gotten them a Japanese label and a Japanese tour, which starts later this week with some excellent acts as support. And listening to the EPs, as I’ve been doing a lot this past week, it’s not hard to understand why.
The band have a strong visual and sonic aesthetic, something the Japanese appreciate and do very well, and for being so young – early 20s? – they are pretty accomplished songwriters, putting together ten songs over the two releases that while they won’t set the world ablaze or transcend the genre, definitely stand out within it as having a distinctive point of view. Their first video is for “Melt”, from the latest EP, and is their hookiest tune and an effective introduction, albeit a little derivative… Radiohead and The Hollies may be entitled to some royalties.
And it just so happened that the day after I finally discovered the act, I saw they were playing a show about 10 minutes away from my house, so yeah I had to go. And in this setting, their youth shows somewhat more. Their stage presence is nothing to write home about, and some of their more impressive musical nuance is lost in the din. But their youth is not a negative – they will get better – and I look forward to watching them improve.
