Indie Spotlight: テングインベーダーズ (Tengu Invaders)
Drums: Iwasaki Youko Gt/Vo: Nakamura Mutsuo Bass: Kuboya Takeshi
tengu invaders are a 3 piece band from Tokyo. Their sound is rooted in punk but is very diverse as it veers off into shoegaze, emo, powerpop, jazz, bluegrass, campfire, gospel, salsa and everything under the sun. I first found out about them a couple years ago while researching bands to add to my "Dope Female Drummers" thread (one on a different forum). At first I thought they were a Ging Nang Boys-esque joke band with superficial punk songs and not much else. Mainly b/c I had only been exposed to their underground hit song: "Manga"
Looks like they used to have a male drummer before Youko joined. Jeez the lengths bands will go to to make an appearance in my "Dope Female Druumers" thread. :) I actually like the song "Manga" a lot now that I know how great they are at switching up styles. Unfortunately I still haven't seen this great band play live. I was supposed to in December when they played at Shibuya LUSH with viridian, N'夙川ＢＯＹｓ, リトルキヨシトミニマム！gnk！and Kominami Yasuha. However, after viridian and Kominami Yasuha I left temporarily to watch DODDODO @ Kichijoji WARP before returning to LUSH in time for N'Shukagawa Boys. But I did buy their CDs so I could listen to what I missed out on...... DAMN! these guys are good. The singer's voice takes getting used to but the lush instrumentation will hook you immediately. The songwriting and arrangements are waaaay better than that of the average pop-punk band. I was expecting 3-chord punk but what I got was incredibly interesting powerpop that delves into a slew of genres. Occasionally they'll throw in a song that sounds earnest but the majority of songs range from wacky humor to completely f*cking insane.
Here's a snippet of their other underground hit "Back to the Future" It has a Supercar/Base Ball Bear-esque powerpop feel:
[audio:http://www.nextmusicfromtokyo.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/back2future.mp3]
My favorite song by them has to be: [audio:http://www.nextmusicfromtokyo.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/futsuu.mp3] tenguinvaders - 普通 with its epic shoegaze riffs and scream-at-the-top-of-your-lungs vocals. Cranking the volume to max is crucial when listening to this song !!
Even though I still haven't seen them play live in person, I can tell from their photos and videos that they're an incredibly energetic and fun band:
I think they're rleasing a new album soon since they have a new PV:
and 3 brand new songs for free download!!
GODDAMN @ the sweet bassplaying on "H.A.L." and the crazy distortion on "宇宙へ行った猿アルバート" The musical variety I was talking about is more evident in these 3 songs. I forgot to mention that tenguinvaders' albums are chock full of great basslines.
And if you're interested in the gear that Mutsuo uses, here's an informative link Mutsuo uses an HSS Strat just like me (though mine's sunburst instead of seafoam green). He also uses both Marshall and Roland JC amps connected together in series at shows! (Luu of masadayomasa goes even one step further by running her guitar through both a Marshall stack and an Ampeg bass amp for an unbelievably obese, powerful tone.)