Are you a fan of rock music? How about rock music that’s in a different language? It sounds unusual, but it’s more interesting than you think.
You’ve probably heard of many popular Japanese music artists, especially since there’s been increased popularity for watching anime and reading manga that took place during quarantine. Most of the Japanese music artists you may know of are those who have created music for openings and/or endings of various anime or video games; for example, LiSA, who rose in popularity after she sang the opening for one of 2020’s popular anime, Demon Slayer. Another example is Ling Tosite Sigure, who sang the ever so popular opening for Tokyo Ghoul’s anime adaptation: “Unravel.” Obviously, we can’t forget Kenshi Yonezu’s contribution to the My Hero Academia anime adaptation with his song “Peace Sign.” The list goes on and on.
Maybe you’ve heard of some older, but still relatively popular Japanese music artists, like Babymetal, who has earned itself a few recent features in western music.
Or you’ve barely heard of any Japanese music artists but have seen a couple every now and then. You might have seen Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, who took the internet by storm several years ago after releasing PONPONPON, an upbeat song with fever-dream visuals that are guaranteed to give you an earworm (in a musical, I-can’t-get-this-song-out-of-my-head way, of course).
Screenshot from “PONPONPON” on YouTube
There’s nothing wrong with listening to mainstream artists and their music, at all. But sometimes I like to dive deep and find unique and interesting artists to binge-listen to. That’s why I’ve compiled my top 3, in no particular order, most criminally underrated Japanese Rock bands that I think are definitely worth listening to.
1. My First Story
Before 2018, the band primarily classified itself as a rock/hardcore band, and likewise, created heavy rock music.
The band debuted in 2012 with their album “My First Story” which immediately got the band some attention. As expected, the album consisted entirely of rock music, the kind that was popular a few years ago. They later released more albums in the following years that fell under the rock genre: “The Story is My Life” (2013) & “Kyogen Neurose” (2014). I felt like Neurose was a total game-changer; this album was where I noticed that they had started incorporating new sounds into their music which gave it a modern rock feel. According to myself, the best and most notable tracks on this album are definitely “Kyogen Neurose” and “Black Rail.”
Then, if it couldn’t get better enough, they released “ANTHESIS” in 2016, which is still their highest selling album. “ANTHESIS” consisted of more electronic elements and incorporated the idea of including rap in their songs. The most notable tracks on this album include “Fukagyaku Replace,” “ALONE,” & “Boom,” however, I had a hard time narrowing the tracks down to these 3, since all of them sound great to me.
In 2018, the band released “S.S.S,” which had more of a pop-music aspect in some of its songs when compared to their previous albums, and started classifying themselves as an indie band. I loved the album, and my most favorite track has to be “ACCIDENT,” which is one of the most pop-rock-sounding songs on the album.
As for more recent news, the band released their newest album, “V.” In my opinion, this album is the most independent sounding album that they’ve made, by far. It moves away from rock (although not entirely) & features a variety of sounds, like upbeat pop music, classic-sounding jazz mixed with rock, rap mixed with heavy rock, and songs that are almost like ballads; each song in the album was a new surprise and the album did not disappoint. My favorite tracks, (if I had to pick 3), are “plastic,” “Underdog,” & “1,000,000 TIMES.”
Lastly, if you’re into the Studio Ghibli tracks or the type of tracks used for the movie “Your Name,” then I’d recommend listening to their newest single “Kokuhaku,” which consists of sounds that have this type of feel mixed in with some soft rock.
2. MOSHIMO
Previously named “Cheese Cake,” the band reformed and renamed itself “MOSHIMO” relatively recently.
I’ll dive right in for MOSHIMO. The band is a lot older than the previously mentioned bands, having been formed way back in 2006. Since they lacked a lot of exposure for their first few years and reformed themselves in 2015, it’s difficult to find a lot of old information about them.
The song that caught my interest for this band had to have been “Denkousekka Jealousy (literally translates to “Instant Jealousy”).” The song starts off with a dive straight into a strong rock sound, and as the song continues, it includes an insanely catchy guitar riff before its final chorus. The music video itself tells an interesting story to keep you occupied while you listen. This song also appears to be one of their most popular songs by far. However, there are more tracks that top Jealousy in popularity, but in my opinion, those tracks aren’t nearly as catchy as this one. They sounded relatively generic to me, and the style of rock that was used for some of them seem pretty old-fashioned despite the tracks being made within the past 4 years. That’s not to say any of their old music isn’t worth checking out on their official Youtube! I just find myself more interested in modern rock.
Another song of theirs that got me interested was “YadaYada.” This is probably one of my favorite songs from MOSHIMO. Like “Jealousy,” it dives right into fast-paced rock music and pulls you on from there. My favorite part, other than the catchy chorus, of course, had to have also been the guitar riff they included towards the end of the song. I think it’s even better than the riff in “Jealousy.”
I picked my top two recently made favorite songs for this band, but that’s not to say that they don’t have a lot more tracks that you should try to listen to.
I think the reason it’s difficult to really talk about MOSHIMO, and for the band itself to extend its exposure is because their music is a little difficult to access for any western audience. Pretty much all of their music titles are in Japanese that’s a little difficult to understand, even for those learning Japanese. But once you find them and their music, you’ll never forget about it. In fact, I found MOSHIMO through a completely randomized playlist.
3. AliA
AliA is probably one of the newest bands I’ve listened to so far. I mean literally; the band was formed in the summer of 2018, and which is why they don’t have many discographies to show (they only have about 28 uploads to YouTube from their official channel). However, what they do have so far has gained my interest.
There’s something in particular about AliA that I have never seen in a rock band; the band has a violinist as a core member. When I listened to some of their music, I thought the violin (as much as I loved how it contrasted with the music) was just a simple addition to the song and not part of the core of the music. I later discovered that one of the 6 members is the band’s violinist, which is why nearly every song incorporated the violin.
“limit,” released in the spring of 2019 was the first song I had heard from AliA. It instantly dives into upbeat rock music, but of course, with a violin. The rock itself doesn’t sound too heavy in my opinion, partly because of the violin pulling along the song. Not to mention the drums at the very start of the song really pull you in. Since I really like the prominence of the violin in their music, I tend to gravitate towards their songs in which it establishes more of a presence, and one of these songs is “Kakurenbo (which translates to “Hide-and-Seek”).” Kakurenbo, as far as I know, is one of their most popular songs, rightfully so, and exceeds 12 million views on YouTube.
Another honorable mention is “impulse,” which I love again, because of the mix of rock music and the violin. At the start, the violin really makes itself prominent and pulls along the song. It jumps back into the chorus later on, and really establishes this type of harmony between the rock and softer, more orchestral sound.
For a band that’s relatively new and not talked about very often, AliA seems to be pretty successful. My overall impression of AliA’s music would be that it is “feel-good” music. Most of their songs sound upbeat and inspiring, and none of the rock in their music is heavy. AliA’s sound is pretty distinguishable in my opinion, and I’m pretty excited to see how they go about their music from here on out.
Something Before I Finish This Up:
Lastly, I’d like to mention that I am not a music expert in any way, I just like listening to music! I chose Japanese bands specifically because popular Japanese music often has a totally different sound than Western Music. If you want to know more about what I mean, try listening to the radio someday and then listen to the top 10 Japanese (not Western) songs that are currently trending in Japan. I think you’ll hear the difference.