my favourite japanese bands/groups, a thread:

1. if you know me you know i have a soft spot for supercar, im not sure if its their early origins in shoegaze or their insanely catchy songwriting but you can guarantee if you asked me about the best japanese bands supercar would get at least a mention

1 continued. their discography spans across 7 studio albums, 2 remix albums, various compilations and soundtrack contributions including the song "storywriter" which featured in the anime eureka seven

1 continued. in their later albums (highvision, answer) supercar begun to experiment with more electronic and in their own words "futuristic" sounds, this combined with the vocals of bass player and vocalist miki furukawa created some of their most impressive and memorable songs

1 final. in my personal opinion supercar helped lead the way for a new generation of indie and alternative japanese bands, with them even being mentioned during an inteview with david bowie in 2004 (bottom line in the image below)

2. advantage lucy, formed in 1995 were a japanese indie band influenced by 60s janglepop, swedish pop, and other indie predecessors such as the smiths and the cardigans. originally named lucy van pelt the band renamed in 1998 after facing legal problems with the peanuts company

2 continued. building on the sounds and success of the shibuya-kei scene ignited by groups like pizzicato five, advantage lucy across their long discography constantly pumped out catchy feel good anthems that drill their way into your head and refuse to leave

2 continued. after the tragic passing of founding member fukumura in 2001 the band scaled back for a while, eventually returning with a set of 2 eps and then in 2005 with the album echo park (their most commercially successful to date)

2 final. their new sound was somewhat more retrospective and slightly heavier but this newfound edge helped keep their sound refreshing, their last release was in 2008 so i presume the band have split, regardless their great songwriting places them as one of the greats of j-indie

3. yuragi, formed in 2015 are a shoegaze band based out of the shiga prefecture in east kyoto, their discography only spans across 1 ep and 1 album so far but they have already received lots of positive reactions both across japan and internationally for their dreamy songwriting

3 continued. in interviews yuragi have referred to artists such as my bloody valentine, american football and aphex twin as songwriting inspirations. their main musical concept in their own words is "bedside music" which they described as the classic shoegaze sound but gentler

3 final. yuragi have a bright future ahead, they put out a remix album last year and have been playing a variety of shows and festivals across japan. if you should keep an eye on anyone in the current japanese shoegaze scene right now it's yuragi

4. dotstokyo (properly known as ・・・・・・・・・) were a 9 member (the lineup shifted various times) shoegaze idol group that debuted in late 2016/early 2017

4 continued. after an ep containing a few singles their first full length project "cd" was released in august 2017, it was one 70 minute long track that featured new original songs surrounded by instrumental shoegaze interludes and topped off with a 50 minute harsh noise segment

4 continued. the pure "weirdness" of the band as a whole instantly set them apart from others, from the harsh noise segments at shows to the fact the members wore visors to keep their identities anonymous. some people rushed to call them a gimmick but imo they were far from it

4 continued. dots put out 2 albums before disbanding in 2019 (「 」, points) which featured a constant display of lush songwriting and catchy rhythms. across their discography various shoegaze legends including for tracy hyde and cruyff in the bedroom contributed writing credits

4 final + 5. i consider these dots albums some of the best releases in idol music and i really recommend both idol fans and shoegaze fans to take a listen. after dots disbanded in 2019 their successor RAY debuted releasing their 1st ep blue and then their debut album pink in 2020

6. i don't think i can explain midori with words

6 continued. im going to try regardless, midori were a four member jazz punk fusion band formed in 2003, their discography consists of 3 studio albums, 3 eps and 2 demo tapes. their sound was a combination of punk vocals and driving jazz melodies which created their unique sound

6 final. they disbanded in 2010 with their final show "sayonara, gotō-san" (shown above), after disbandment the lead vocalist mariko goto lead a fairly successful solo career spanning 4 albums with the most recent being released last year

7. for tracy hyde are a dreampop/shoegaze band formed in tokyo in 2012. they often incorporate elements of other genres such as chillwave and psych pop in their albums and have named their influences as bands such as ride, flippers guitar and the 1975

7 final. originally working with vocalist lovelysummerchan until 2015 when she was replaced with their current vocalist, for tracy hyde have put out 3 full length studio albums, imo all are worth a listen as they are jam packed with some of the catchiest songs in the genre

8. you,any are a pretty cool indie rock band, i honestly can't find any information at all about them online all i know is their twitter is @_you_any_ and i believe they disbanded a few years ago

also their vocalist releases music under the alias mitsucaster @Mitsucaster

9. my dead girlfriend were a shoegaze/blissrock band formed in 2005, who eventually became one of the "legendary" bands of the genre in my opinion. through their 12 year run they went through various lineup changes including the departure of founding member yuki otsuka

9 end. their discography includes 3 solo records + a split record with shojoskip, another big name in the shoegaze genre. the band became well known for their double vocals, warm keyboards and ringing guitar riffs, rightfully earning their place as one of the shoegaze greats

10. band-maid are a pop rock/idol rock group formed in 2013. they combine a rock sound with maid imagery based on the maid cafe culture in japan. each member has a uniform that is adapted to match their personality

10 end. band-maid have released a variety of albums over the years with some fans claiming their sound has got more pop over time with others disagreeing. they have found great success internationally and have toured across various continents including america and europe

thats all for part 1 of the thread, i will post part 2 sometime this week im not sure what day, below are some of the bands im planning on featuring in part 2

btw none of the bands are in a particular order the order is completely random

thank you for reading!!

all the songs from part 1 in order:
supercar - lucky
supercar - storywriter
supercar - strobolights
advantage lucy - how do you feel
advantage lucy - red bicycle
advantage lucy - グライダー
yuragi - soon
yuragi - bedside (album version)
yuragi - horizon

・・・・・・・・・(dots) - スライド
・・・・・・・・・(dots) - しづかの海
RAY - the end of the world with you
midori - ゆきこさん
midori - 獄衣deサンバ
mariko goto - M@HφU☆Shoujo
for tracy hyde - 繋ぐ日の青
for tracy hyde - can little birds remember?
you,any - 青の鯨

my dead girlfriend - 彼女が冷たく笑ったら (prologue to the nine stages of change at the deceased remains)
my dead girlfriend - kinoshita fuyou
band-maid - domination

11. if you have been on music twitter for any amount of time you have heard the name "fishmans" at least once, formed in 1987 in minato, tokyo, fishmans became well known for their psychedelic take on dub music and the distinctive vocals of the lead singer shinji sato

11 continued. fishmans eventually started to slowly move away from their reggae sound and started to incorporate elements of ambient and shoegaze, through the mid-late 90s they released records including kuuchuu camp, long season (their most well known) and uchu nippon setagaya

11 continued. fishmans performed their final concert on december 28th, 1998. they played a variety of their best songs, and concluded with a full performance of long season. shinji sato sadly passed away the next year due to heart failure

11 final. during their decade long run fishmans put out some phenomenal records and deserve their reputation as one of the greatest japanese bands of all time, the band are for the most part inactive now but still play the occasional tribute show from time to time

12. kinoko teikoku (mushroom empire) were a 4 member shoegaze band formed in 2007, they made their commercial debut in 2012 with the critically acclaimed album whirlpool.

12 continued. the band eventually signed to major label EMI and progressed to a more pop based sound contrasting their earlier works that were inspired by the 90s alternative infused shoegaze sound. after releasing a selection of records they eventually disbanded last year

12 final. despite struggling to fit into the shoegaze scene in japan, kinoko teikoku found success abroad and are often quoted as the band that introduced people to the japanese shoegaze scene. this combined with their incredible sound earns them a well deserved place on the list

btw i apologise if any of the wording or grammar is bad, trying to fit my writing within the twitter word limit is the hardest thing istg

13. uchu nekoko (aka 宇宙ネコ子) are a dream pop/shoegaze band formed in 2012 consisting of guitarist nemuko and vocalist kano. both of the members help write and compose the groups music. all of their promotional artwork is done by artist tomoko oshima

13 continued. the group have collaborated with a variety of artists including lovelysummerchan, tsvaci and you irie. all of these collaborations can be found on the compilation album 日々のあわ which i personally highly recommend

13 end. in conclusion uchu nekoko's combination of dreamy shoegaze sound and washed out anime visuals is a match made in heaven and as said before i highly recommenced you check out their compilation album 日々のあわ and additionally their debut album 君のように生きれたら

14. number girl, formed in the year 1995 in the fukuoka prefecture of japan were an indie rock/post hardcore band that were often compared to bands such as pixies and sonic youth for their experimentation, noisy guitars and emotionally charged poetic lyrics

14 continued. from 1995 up until their disbandment in 2002 they put out a total of 4 studio albums not including live albums, they started out relatively unsuccessful at first but were later considered one of the biggest names in the japanese indie rock scene at the time

14 continued. their early songwriting explored basic themes such as highschool and girls but towards their later albums they started exploring deeper lyrical themes such as their personal relationship with japanese culture and harsh social criticism

14 end. many modern japanese bands have cited number girl as an inspiration including tricot, ling tosite sigure and kinoko teikoku. they had a short reunion last year and plan on playing a reunion tour. imo they will forever remain one of the top japanese indie bands of all time

15. shizuka (静香) were a noise rock band formed in 1992 by founding member shizuka miura. the band originally started as a solo project with members joining later including her partner maki miura. the groups musical style is often described as psychedelic, haunting and gothic

15 continued. the band released 4 albums during their couple decade run with 3/4 of these being live albums. their only studio album was heavenly persona (天界のペルソナ) released in 1994, dedicated to shizuka miura's dollmaking mentor katan amano

15 continued. sadly on the 31st of january 2010 shizuka miura took her own life, the exact cause is unknown. shortly after a dvd video-album was released as a visual tribute to shizuka including footage from their last show

tw // suicide

linked below are various lists of suicide hotlines and what number to call in whatever country you currently reside in, in case of suicidal thoughts please reach out and seek the relevant support

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines
http://www.suicide.org/international-suicide-hotlines.html

15 end. shizuka are a real gem and a group that in my opinion will forever be underrated, everything from their atmospheric sound to their haunting aesthetic comes together so brilliantly and i highly recommend you go give them a listen

songs from part 2 in order:
fishmans - ナイトクルージング
fishmans - long season
kinoko teikoku - 夜が明けたら
kinoko teikoku - 海と花束
宇宙ネコ子 - 日々のあわ
宇宙ネコ子 - virgin suicide
number girl - 透明少女
number girl - URBAN GUITAR SAYONARA
number girl - OMOIDE IN MY HEAD

shizuka - 孤独を図る
shizuka - 6gの星
shizuka - 終末の華

more posts to the thread are coming soon and i also have some special posts planned for the next few weeks so look out for those!!

thank you again for reading

interviews with various of the bands on the list https://twitter.com/fuckyoupauI/status/1295344302181285888