Having registered a solid and satisfying blip on the Western indie-pop radar screen by firing loopy salvos of American-style pop-punk back from Japan, Shonen Knife proceeded from adorable Hello Kitty amateurishness to a more accomplished Ramonesy archetype as their international stature grew. Initially viewed as hapless wide-eyed shoppers in the great music mall, the consumer culture-obsessed Osaka trio have grown into a solid band, losing a lot of their childlike grace in the process…
The 5.6.7.8's are an all-female Japanese garage rock trio, whose music is reminiscent of American surf music, rockabilly and garage rock. While their biggest international exposure was a cameo in the Tarantino flick Kill Bill, 5.6.7.8's are much more than one-hit wonders, bearing the proud distinction of being the prime and longest-enduring Japanese garage rock girl band. Featuring a revolving cast of musicians (only one of them ever being a boy) and possessing small but loyal fanbases in countries from China to the United States. The group have so named themselves because they play music reminiscent of 1950s, '60s, '70s, and '80s rock. Currently this CD Collection includes 9 CDs.
Yellow Loveless is a tribute album featuring cover versions of the 11 songs from My Bloody Valentine's 1991 record Loveless. The album was released on January 23, 2013 by High Fader Records, coincidentally just after the announcement of My Bloody Valentine's third studio album, mbv (2013). The album features exclusive covers by Japanese artists from various genres, including sludge metal band Boris and pop punk group Shonen Knife.
Redd Kross reached its peak in the early '80s, when the band made such humorous and clever contributions to punk rock as "Linda Blair." As the '80s progressed, Kross got away from punk and went for cleaner, less reckless alternative rock and power-pop. Those who play 1990's Third Eye next to Kross' early recordings will hear just how radically the band changed over the years…