Elegantly loud rock 'n' roll from Tokyo

The four ladies in Japan’s LAZYgunsBRISKY have found the magic formula for writing hell-for-leather rock songs that stay somehow cool and elegant. It’s a little mind bendy sometimes. Their songs combine the alt-rock sass of a ’90s band like The Breeders with the mystic textures of late ’60s psychedelia. It’s kind of like they turned the awesomest small-town vintage store ever into music. Then they took that stuff and turned it into a bunch of knock-out gorgeous music videos, like the one for “B.o.Y. (Behavior of the Young).” Yeah, we’re band crushing again.

Singer Lucy, guitarist Izumi, bassist Azu, and drummer Moe, met in high school and started jamming in 2006.  In a testament to their raw talent, the legendary Kenichi Asai, formerly of Blankey Jet City, dug their sound and produced their debut album Quixotic. Their mini album 26 Times came out in 2009 on Flyingstar Records, and was re-released last year on Goo Goo Dolls bassist Robby Takac’s US label Good Charamel.The album is a mini mountain of weighty blues rock a la Gossip with a stylish lysergic tinge. It’s like the heavy riffs wear a many-colored coat of fuzz. Their second full-length album, self-titled and at large in Japan, takes that sound, turns it up to 11, and adds Japanese lyrics.

The quartet toured Europe recently and bum-rushed Fuji Rock, but most of the time you can catch them honing their tough but lovely sound in the the rock clubs of Tokyo. It’s way to good to stay there though. We think they’ll be on the road again soon.