Otoboke Beaver [おとぼけビ～バ～] is an all-female band from Japan which has kind of blow-up with their latest release, Iketoma Hits. Founded in Kyoto in 2009 by four college music clubs members, the band has steadily developed a harsh, frantic, fast tempo kind-of-punk rock style over the years, process fully condensed in this latest album, which goes beyond everythig I've ever listened to. All tracks in this release are between 1 and 2 minutes yet every single of them has bizarre, extemporaneous changes in instrumentation, style of delivery and tempo that functionally makes them short songs made up of ''minisongs'' if that makes any sense at all. The absolutely amazing voice of Accorinrin covers tonic range for days and is backed by group chorals, perpetually smashing drums and guitar riffs capable of putting any punk legend to shame. These short tracks are no joke, and I can't really think of a similarly bold music proponsal of these latest years.
Apparently named after a local love hotel in their area, their lyrical approach is basically rage venting, pretty much all you can do with such short tracks; yet nothing more appropiate for this once-in-a-lifetime mix of garage, punk and ever hardcore. You get the idea: how shitty jobs are, how stupid relationships can be, lack or excess of luck, etc. Heavily influenced by the local Japanese underground bands such as Afrirampo or Oshiripenpenz (also an explosive mix of genres), their members assert how the fact of their music being fun to compose made them speed it up more and more both in rehearsals and live shows; this eventually led them to simply stop caring and play as fast as possible. And it actually works. Also, I loved the fact that Accorinrin acknowledges Jun Togawa's YAPOOS influence on her singing style, a testimony to how much she has shaped the Japanese musical scene to this very day. Aside from these musical perks, Otoboke Beaver also has this quite flamboyant and colourful visual style, kind of far away from most underground bands in Japan, most of them adherent to striking hairstyle, tattooing and/or aggresive clothing. Apparently before shows they go to used clothes shops in their local city and pick up the most striking possible among them; these cheap shopping sprees make them perhaps the first band with a totally different indumentary every and each live show.
But the over-the-topness is not on the surface; it is at the very root of these 14 tracks and the performance style during shows. After listening to them I can assess some features of their furious stream of music; many of the striking changes of tempo and complete shifts of melody follow (as it had to be the case) a built up - release cycle. The built ups use various techniques, from rythmic, heavy chorals a la ska-style (syncopation, of course) to the fastest singing imaginable in a linear, filled-up stream of noise background. The releases are also varied: from growl to absolute instrumental noise to an unexpected transition which permutates the tension into a other song segment, even one of lesser intensity. They often insert spoken speech, disjointed vocals and some english here and there. The result is their quite characteristic explosive style. Itekoma Hits at full volume can probably get you expelled from your neighborhood.
I won't follow each track, as there are lots of them, but simply those who sound remarkable for me. Titles use English and Japanese alternatively. Track nº2 is called ''Akimahenka (2019)'' and right from the start is quite brutal and fast; its chorals and linear structure make it perhaps the most ''genuine punk'' sounding track of the entire album. In contrast, track nº3 ''S'il Vous Plait'' constitutes a tribute to their most garage roots; the guitar riff also brings memories of surf music (big in the birth of rock music in Japan) and to rockabilly. Of course they sound like themselves at this point, but track nº5 ''What Do You Mean You Have Talk To Me At This Late Date?'' is an angerfest which can only be described as 100% Otoboke Beaver. Its speed and transitions are like hell bottled up and the voice performs inhuman deeds. The bass work is crazy and it only gets better until its end at only 1:54 minutes. Track nº6 ''Introduce me to your family'' is no doubt one of my favourites. It depicts how pissed off can make you listening to the story of a partner's family up to the fourth generation. It starts with a punk redition of the Periods of Japan (Meiji, Taishō, Shōwa, Heisei) which also performs as recurring chorus; as many honorific terms for family members sound alike there are word puns and the like. The rythm is playful and simply catchy. Track nº8, ''Bad luck'' is also
very characteristic of the band's style, now also making unexpected use of children's tale-telling singing and then hardcore because yes. Track nº9 ''Don't Light My Fire'' can't be described. Listen to it, please dear reader. Track 6 ''Day Working Week Is A Pain'' has a lot of variation to it and its the longest track at 2:47 of duration. Its theme is obvious and its acceleration and deceleration corresponds to both the depression and stress peaks of pick-your-job.
Track nº 12 ''I'm Tired Of Your Repeating Story'' brings the rage from the very start, a kickass song comparable to tracks 2 and 9; worth mentioning here as no other band could have composed it. Also, it features tongue twisters, as track 8 also does. Finally, Track nº 14, ''Mean'' is as short as it is good, and it also features an official music video just as good. This one completes the record, also fully available in Youtube. All in all, Otoboke Beaver are fresh and fun music coming up from Japan, which is gradually turning into an internationally-scoped market (it has always been Asia's leading record industry) capable of nurturing back the monotone bones of European and American musical landscapes, with both bands and record industries still reluctant to allow the free and in fact extreme genre-mixing which has always been at the heart of Japanese music.
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