サバノオミソニー (Sabanoomisony)

サバノオミソニー (Saba no Omisony) means mackerel simmered in miso—a perfect example of Japanese soul food. The band was formed in 2019 by four university students in Ashikaga—a small city nestled in the mountains of Tochigi prefecture that was once home to a powerful Shogunate clan that ruled Japan for 237 years. Sabanoomisony’s music is alternative-pop with a slew of influences ranging from shoegaze, jazz, hip hop to math rock. With solid musicianship, hauntingly beautiful lead vocals and lush instrumentation that set the mood from relaxingly chill to powerfully uplifting, Sabanoomisony’s music is indeed food for the soul. Sabanoomisony might not rule Japan or the world with their music but they’ll start by making a few Canadian fans in October.

Hold up. We need a sec to discuss the awesomeness of Ayumi’s drip. I used to skate back in the day and wore baggy ass jeans but even Rick Howard’s got nuttin’ on Ayumi Hirose. And I especially like how she rolls the cuff up extra high. Not to be outdone, Rene also wears some XXXXXL pants in the 「Note to Self:」vid.

In the photos above you may notice that Sabanoomisony are super tight with the band Kurayamisaka. Funny thing is I initially invited Kurayamisaka on this tour and when they couldn’t make it Sabanoomisony ended up taking their spot. Ayumi’s jeans though!!!

Although Ayumi is responsible for singing 90% of the time, other members sing lead once in a while as evidenced in the videos directly above. The video on the right even has drummer Shinada flexing his rapping skills while drumming.

Sabanoomisony’s music has exceptional diversity due to each member being able to write songs on their own. The album「Step to the Fore」exemplifies this heterogeneity. But despite each member composing a song each on the「December」ep—their latest release has a more unified sound. According to bassist Rene, Sabanoomisony had a small identity crisis struggling to develop a signature sound. On the December ep they’ve settled for melancholic emo and shoegaze with a retro feel reminiscent of 90s bands like Velocity Girl and Lush. Personally,「December」is my favorite release by far but I also liked Sabanoomisony’s ability to switch things up on previous works. Regardless, Sabanoomisony’s continued evolution is a delight to behold.