Adorable Japanese Rockers Invade US!

What happened to the disaffected hipsters? Infectious all-girl J-Rock drives the crowd wild

After receiving an urgent text from my editor insisting that I immediately run across downtown in order to catch the Tokushima, Japan-based band Chatmonchy that “everyone has been buzzing about,” I made what could have been a potentially deadly mistake.  In my rush to make it to the official Japan Night showcase at Elysium, I decided to skip dinner and instead down a large cup of coffee and half a Snickers bar.

Sufficiently refueled, I finally got into the club just as the all-girl rock band took the stage.  The first thing you notice about Chatmonchy — a term that means absolutely nothing, by the way — is the very specific styling of each band member.  Lead singer and guitar-player, Eriko Hashimoto, is the soft-spoken “shy girl” with a quiet and demure speaking voice (and not much to say), long black hair, thick bangs and an outfit consisting of an over-sized shirt with ducks and tight jeans.  Bassist and back-up vocalist, Akiko Fukuoka, is the “crazy girl” who likes to address and pump the crowd, has short hair with highlighted chunks, and a zany dress/shirt with crazy prints and leather pants.  Drummer and additional back-up vocalist, Kumiko Takahashi is, well, kind of forgettable — the Sporty Spice of the group, if you will.

Chatmonchy is signed to Sony Music Japan, and it shows.  This bubble-gum J-Rock trio has been impeccably packaged and sold by execs pulling stings way beyond the reach of the actual band.  But as kitschy as the group may appear, they are not the Spice Girls; they were not put together through auditions after a creepy producer had a eureka moment after waking up from a wet dream.  Chatmonchy was actually created by Hashimoto in 2000, when she was still going to high school in the city of Tokushima.  The band changed faces many a time until Hashimoto solidified the current line-up in 2004. Not long after the lineup finalized, the band’s popularity began snowballing and Sony Music Japan paid attention.  Chatmonchy has since become consistent chart-toppers in Japan and plays to countless sold-out shows.

Akiko Fukuoka (left), Kumiko Takahashi (drums), and Eriko Hashimoto (right) of Chatmonchy

This SXSW performance would mark their first foray into the North America music scene.  And by the reaction of the crowd, it was going extremely well.  Hashimoto’s high-pitched vocals set against some of the poppiest rock music I have ever come across — think Weezer meets the Spice Girls with an additional sprinkling of confectioner’s sugar — was causing the packed crowd to frenetically bounce, jump, and hoot.  And every time the gregarious Fukuoka picked up and swung her bass while yelling things like “Make a sound!  Let’s dance!” or “You having fun?!  Enjoy!” or again “Let’s dance! One two three four, one two three foooouuuurrr!!!!,” the screams from the crowd intensified to the point where at least a handful of people must have suffered some form of permanent hearing damage.

As if the crowd wasn’t already over-stimulated, the latter half of the Chatmonchy performance was accompanied by billowing clouds from a massively over-producing fog machine and blinding LED lights. Already over-caffeinated and in a Snickers sugar high, I think I started hallucinating.  By the time the insanely adorable trio laid down their final catchy beats, giggled, and said their good-byes, I wanted nothing more than to grab two girlfriends and have as much fun as this bopping around on stage. Of course, I eventually came out of my delusional sugar coma, but man…the Chatmonchy energy is infectious!

– Molly Wardlaw

Chatmonchy gets the crowd to rock out at the Japan Night showcase @SXSW

FULL SXSW COVERAGE: We went! We saw! We reviewed and slideshowed and interviewed! Some SUCKED! Some ROCKED! GO HERE!!