100s

100s (apparently pronounced hyaku shiki) are a pop rock band. Similar in sound to the upbeat rock of Base Ball Bear, the earnest dreamyness of Remioromen and general mellow good times of The Pillows. They are still a relatively new band, having released only two albums since their 2004 debut. Their music is generally upbeat, full of soaring choruses and layered with electro sparkles. While nothing new or special, they at least provide some nice music to listen to while, oh, I don't know, surfing the internet and looking up obscure J-music.

175R



175R is a mainstream punk band. I say mainstream punk meaning that sort of fun and innocent, yet fast punk-like style that seems to be very popular with the kids these days. You know, Hot Topic stuff. The band is fronted by a singer with a rather distinctive voice, nasal and high pitched. According to the internets, 175R means Inago Rider, which is derived from the goroawase (175) plus R for rider. The word inago (蝗) means grasshopper in Japanese. So now you know.







The 5, 6, 7, 8s

Best known around the world for their brief appearance in Kill Bill, 5, 6, 7, 8s are a rockabilly/punk/garage rock band. The all girl trio mixes harsh lyrics with amped up retro rock styles, a lot like Guitar Wolf, only not distorted beyond all recognition. They are actually much different than their portrayal in Kill Bill would suggest, being much louder and abrasive than the restrained performance in the movie. They've done a lot of touring outside of Japan, even gaining some heavy radio play in the U.K.







800 Cherries



800 Cherries are a Shibuya-kei style duo. They started out with an acoustic sound, mainly guitar and soft vocals, gradually moving into more electronic territory as the progressed. They have the characteristic whispery vocals and tinkly keyboards that so many other indie/electro Japanese bands follow. Like so many other whispery indie duos, they offer very little in terms of innovation, but they are very pretty and pleasant none the less.

9mm Parabellum Bullet

9mm Parabellum Bullet not only has a rather unique (aka typiclly Japanese) name, but their music is also a unique mix of straight up rock and totally twisted post punk. The guitar playing is extremely tight and frenetic, yet the songs are very melodic and listener friendly. On the one hand, they my fall into Asian Kung-fu territory, yet their spastic playing and crazy drumming is much more like Number Girl. There are even a few heavy metal riffs from time to time. It's all presented at blinding speed ("Mr. Suicide" for example), so you'll need to listen to them many times to actually hear everything that's going on.







That'll do it for this one. Rest assured, you have not heard the last from ZB's A-Z!