The Modern-Day Angura Scene

[Tokage 5930]

  It's no real secret that the angura scene isn't really as alive anymore as it once used to be. I know most of these artists were never really among the most popular ones in VK in the first place, but these days it feels like the majority of the bands/artists still active on the scene are ones that are almost as old as the aesthetics they're trying to imitate. It feels like there either don't seem to be that many new bands popping up that fit into that classic '00s angura mold (as loosely defined as that was), or they're simply so underground they don't really become known overseas.

 

  The main idea behind this thread is for it to serve both as a sort of ''where are they now?'' for the classic angura artists, as well as a place to share some of the newer bands that have appeared on the scene in the last decade or so. Contributions, corrections, etc. always appreciated!

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Cool idea! I'd love if some Guruguru Eigakan-like band turned up in the current scene... I don't even know any newer angura bands to begin with. xD

[Tokage 5930]

Where Are They Now? (Angura Style)

 

グルグル映畫館 (Guruguru Eigakan): Inactive. Last official release in 2010. The band officially suspended activities back in 2012. Vocalist Amano Tonbimaru passed away due to unknown causes the following year. I think there have been some tribute / memorial concerts in his honor after that, but it's unlikely they'll ever get together again.

 

犬神サーカス団 (Inugami Circus-Dan): Active. Ever since their slight name change in 2012 they've been pretty consistenly productive. They've released 4 full-length albums, 1 mini-album and a compilation album in the last 5 years. 

 

駄菓子菓子 (Dagashi-Kashi):  Active. (I think?) Their last full-length album came out as far back as 2015, but I think they're still around. Using Google Translate, I found out that they've apparently had to cancel some live performances this year due to one of their members' health problems.  

 

ストロベリーソングオーケストラ (Strawberry Song Orchestra): Active. Their last cd came out in 2016, and they seem to have changed their look again since then as well. 

 

SEX-ANDROID: Inactive. Indefinite hiatus started July 19th this year.

 

太平洋ベルト (Taiheiyou Belt): Somehow still active. Despite the fact that it feels like it's been ages since they actually released anything, they're apparently still around and playing lives.

 

メトロノーム (Metronome): Active. Rather unexpectedly released a comeback album in March of this year. Hopefully they'll stick around for a while longer!

 

新宿ゲバルト(Shinjuku Gewalt): Active? Released at least one official single last year after what felt like ages. Who knows what they're up to lmao

 

FLOPPY: ???. Now that Sharaku's busy with Meto and (presumably) GalapagosS, who knows what'll happen to them. It's been a while since they've had any proper releases, but I think they were still performing at least a couple of years ago?

 

cali≠gari: Active. Released a fine-ass album a couple of months ago, check it out if you somehow haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

Here's a little list for starters. Feel free to add to it.

[Tokage 5930]

19 minutes ago, Jigsaw9 said:

Cool idea! I'd love if some Guruguru Eigakan-like band turned up in the current scene... I don't even know any newer angura bands to begin with. xD

Are you familiar with カラビンカ (Kalavinka)? I think they formed somewhere around 2007 or so. They nail that classic angura sound pretty fucking well in my opinion, pretty much everything I've heard by them has been good. Their singer kind of reminds me of the dude from Jully

 

 

 

Edited July 30, 2017 by Tokage

[Jigsaw9 6783]

^ Sounds pretty nice, thanks for the recc! I've heard the name but as with much angura stuff, their music was next to impossible to find, so I quickly forgot about them.

[Tokage 5930]

Another relatively new, vaguely angura-ish band is 乙女国家 (Otomekokka). As far as I know, they're made up out of members from Elektel-shiki and Hitotsume. I'm kind of hesitant to fully label them as angura cuz I feel like they kind of straddle that same line bands like R-Shitei, Gossip, The Gallo etc. do, where they either have the aesthetic but the music doesn't match up, they don't really have the proper 'connections' within the scene (ie they don't really seem to play alongside the 'established' bands in the scene all that much) or they have the music/lyrics but the aesthetic doesn't really fit lol

[Biopanda 2675]

6 minutes ago, Tokage said:

Are you familiar with カラビンカ (Kalavinka)? I think they formed somewhere around 2007 or so. They nail that classic angura sound pretty fucking well in my opinion, pretty much everything I've heard by them has been good. Their singer kind of reminds me of the dude from Jully

I don't think it's ever been 100% confirmed, but most places online say that Kalavinka's vocalist is actually Arisu Arisugawa from Missalina Rei of all places XD

[Tokage 5930]

As far as ''newer'' bands go, there's also 紅蝉 (Benizemi). Like Kalavinka, they also formed somewhere around 2007 or so. Unlike Kalavinka, however, they disbanded somewhere this year or last year. They were certainly somewhat unique, but I could never really get into them. (IIRC, @Gaz used to be somewhat into them at some point tho, maybe he can tell you more..)

 

They have quite a few releases, some of them should be available on here too.

 

 

Edited July 30, 2017 by Tokage

[filth_y 189]

23 minutes ago, Tokage said:

新宿ゲバルト(Shinjuku Gewalt): Active? Released at least one official single last year after what felt like ages. Who knows what they're up to lmao

I saw them "live" last year. Besides being one of the most dissapointing and worst lives i've ever been at, there were quite a lot of people compared to other lives. 新宿LOFT isn't a big live house but it was packed, and everyone obviously only came for ゲバルト. Some fans looked like in their late 30's or even older but also a lot of chubby teenage girls cheering for those 2 otaku oldies on stage, talking random things like "Uhm, hi, uhm, yes" for 15 minutes between playback songs, like they're some super cute idols or something.

They had the single you mentioned but also a lot of other merchandise that seemed to sell well, so i felt they still have it going after all these years? 

The hype around them online is so over the top, its amazing. And i do love to listen to many of their songs on CD, but their actual live, lmao.

[suji 8317]

35 minutes ago, Tokage said:

Are you familiar with カラビンカ (Kalavinka)? I think they formed somewhere around 2007 or so. They nail that classic angura sound pretty fucking well in my opinion, pretty much everything I've heard by them has been good. Their singer kind of reminds me of the dude from Jully

 

 

 

I see my rip has been stolen 👀

 

but fuck yeah, Kalavinka! I recently just got into them, and I was luckily able to find this particular single on closetchild! They're really good, and that drives me to learn more about these bands! I honestly don't know jackshit about angura kei, other than caligari and maybe Marco and Merry??? (I doubt they even count tho...) I also listened to one song from Strawberry Song Orchestra, but I really wasn't into it...

 

I'll definitely check out some of those other bands on the list tho!

 

25 minutes ago, Biopanda said:

I don't think it's ever been 100% confirmed, but most places online say that Kalavinka's vocalist is actually Arisu Arisugawa from Missalina Rei of all places XD

WHAT

Edited July 30, 2017 by sheepprincessgara

[filth_y 189]

32 minutes ago, Tokage said:

Another relatively new, vaguely angura-ish band is 乙女国家 (Otomekokka). As far as I know, they're made up out of members from Elektel-shiki and Hitotsume. 

Also don't forget ex-レインマン (Rainman)

The other two guys from said レインマン went also to a new band チョコレエトホリツク (Chocolat holic). They have one song which sounds like early レインマン but also reminded me of ヒトツメ (Hitotsume). So, if these bands can be considered Angura, this would be another new one. But i dont know if they are still active.

32 minutes ago, Tokage said:

they don't really have the proper 'connections' within the scene (ie they don't really seem to play alongside the 'established' bands in the scene all that much) or they have the music/lyrics but the aesthetic doesn't really fit lol

I think it's really hard what categorizes correctly, so i like this discussion. For example, the live of ゲバ i mentioned, they play with two totally different acts: ヒロネちゃん and 浜崎容子. Often there can be totally different bands playing together, seemingly totally random.

[Tokage 5930]

14 minutes ago, filth_y said:

I saw them "live" last year. Besides being one of the most dissapointing and worst lives i've ever been at, there were quite a lot of people compared to other lives. 新宿LOFT isn't a big live house but it was packed, and everyone obviously only came for ゲバルト. Some fans looked like in their late 30's or even older but also a lot of chubby teenage girls cheering for those 2 otaku oldies on stage, talking random things like "Uhm, hi, uhm, yes" for 15 minutes between playback songs, like they're some super cute idols or something.

They had the single you mentioned but also a lot of other merchandise that seemed to sell well, so i felt they still have it going after all these years? 

The hype around them online is so over the top, its amazing. And i do love to listen to many of their songs on CD, but their actual live, lmao.

lmao i get the impression that most angura band lives seem to be the bands just fucking around, maybe performing some dumb sketches here and there and then mayyyyyyybe occasionally playing a song or two as well. i think they sometimes do some more interesting stuff tho.

 

11 minutes ago, sheepprincessgara said:

I honestly don't know jackshit about angura kei, other than caligari and maybe Marco and Merry??? (I doubt they even count tho...) I also listened to one song from Strawberry Song Orchestra, but I really wasn't into it...

 

I'll definitely check out some of those other bands on the list tho!

IDK which song you listened to, but I'd say you should give SSO another chance. Try checking out their full-length album Chi no Ranshou or their Subete Kiete Nakunare mini. Both should be on Spotify. They do some pretty cool stuff here and their IMO, but I can see why it's not for everybody.

 

Since you're into Merry and Marco, I'm assuming you probably already checked them out or know of them, but have you ever tried out Kyokutou Girl Friend and/or ハッピーサッド (Happysad)? Besides sharing a vocalist, I think they shared some other members as well. Both bands have this sort of retro aesthetic Merry has, tho KGF is a lot punkier (to the point where one of their releases pretty much straight up copied the cover art for the legendary jap punk album Meshi Kuuna! by INU lmao). Both bands are sadly long disbanded, but they were very good. You might also want to check out Monokuro Kinema.

[Tokage 5930]

6 minutes ago, filth_y said:

Also don't forget ex-レインマン (Rainman)

The other two guys from said レインマン went also to a new band チョコレエトホリツク (Chocolat holic). They have one song which sounds like early レインマン but also reminded me of ヒトツメ (Hitotsume). So, if these bands can be considered Angura, this would be another new one. But i dont know if they are still active.

I think it's really hard what categorizes correctly, so i like this discussion. For example, the live of ゲバ i mentioned, they play with two totally different acts: ヒロネちゃん and 浜崎容子. Often there can be totally different bands playing together, seemingly totally random.

I'd argue that at least 浜崎容子 has SOME sort of angura cred tho, if only due to her band Urbangarde and their general themes, aesthetics, etc.  I guess those influences are less pronounced in her solo stuff cuz I get the impression that it's mostly Tenma who's responsible for the weirder stuff in Urbangarde

 

The whole 'properly defining angura' thing is really difficult indeed, and tbh i feel like it's more like one of those things foreign fans  get caught up in flame wars over than anything the domestic fanbase worries about anyway, but there still do appear to be at least some recurrent underlying themes, influences, aesthetics & recurring connections between certain bands, labels, etc. 

 

レインマン actually had some pretty solid tunes too, for what it's worth. ヒトツメ was always rather hit-or-miss for me tbh (still bought one of their minis tho).

Elektel-shiki was just pure unfiltered shit lmao

[violetchain 912]

Regarding FLOPPY: 

 

They're holding a 13th anniversary one-man and releasing a live-limited single in August, so it seems like Sharaku is still making time for it every now and then between other activities. I think GalapagosS is on hiatus though?

[Tokage 5930]

41 minutes ago, violetchain said:

Regarding FLOPPY: 

 

They're holding a 13th anniversary one-man and releasing a live-limited single in August, so it seems like Sharaku is still making time for it every now and then between other activities. I think GalapagosS is on hiatus though?

Hopefully that means FLOPPY's gonna release an album next year or something. Feels like we've been waiting too long for some new material.

GalapagosS at least released an album last year, but other than that I know nothing about them.. To be honest, I kind of stopped actively keeping up with them around the time Run Like Fury dropped. Don't know why, but somehow their music after that just never quite did it for me the way Metronome or FLOPPY did despite GalapagosS not even being all that different fundamentally.

[returnal 543]

3 hours ago, Biopanda said:

I don't think it's ever been 100% confirmed, but most places online say that Kalavinka's vocalist is actually Arisu Arisugawa from Missalina Rei of all places XD

i heard about that! it actually isn't him, but the vocalist (twitter here) was in Arisu's painfully obscure post-MR band Coup d'e tat,* so the confusion seems to stem from there. god knows what happened to arisu.

 

*THIS BAND IS ONE OF THE GREATEST MYSTERIES IN MY LIFE

Edited July 30, 2017 by returnal

[anakuro 847]

I'm not sure how much I have to add but yes 新宿ゲバルト plays occasionally in Tokyo they've got a few lives coming up this year tbh

 

太平洋ベルト  I've only ever seen them listed at THE ELECT HORROR PICTURE SHOW series of lives that often has matsutake works playing at and other bleep bloops (unfortunately including pinokiwo....). They're actually coming down to Osaka and boy am I ready for that👌

[Biopanda 2675]

27 minutes ago, returnal said:

i heard about that! it actually isn't him, but the vocalist (twitter here) was in Arisu's painfully obscure post-MR band Coup d'e tat,* so the confusion seems to stem from there. god knows what happened to arisu.

 

*THIS BAND IS ONE OF THE GREATEST MYSTERIES IN MY LIFE

But I... I want to believe

[returnal 543]

1 hour ago, Biopanda said:

But I... I want to believe

what you don't know is that arisu is actually a member here. he's been hiding all along

[Tokage 5930]

7 hours ago, anakuro said:

I'm not sure how much I have to add but yes 新宿ゲバルト plays occasionally in Tokyo they've got a few lives coming up this year tbh

 

太平洋ベルト  I've only ever seen them listed at THE ELECT HORROR PICTURE SHOW series of lives that often has matsutake works playing at and other bleep bloops (unfortunately including pinokiwo....). They're actually coming down to Osaka and boy am I ready for that👌

It's prob gonna be fun, they seem to be pretty energetic (when they're actually playing songs lmao)

 

Pinokiwo tho....

[Karma’s Hat 3107]

That kalavinka is really nice actually 

[Tokage 5930]

Here's something else:

 

首振りDolls: I saw they were also listed in the lineup of one of those THE ELECT HORROR PICTURE SHOW events. Feels like they must be at leas somewhat related to the Angura scene based solely on the other bands that perform there. They don't really  sound very typically Angura though, their sound's more garage rock than anything & their vocalist kinda reminds me of a mix between ex-Malice Mizer vo. Tetsu & the guy from Kalavinka. On the other hand, the album art at the bottom of this post and their visuals kind of fit the aesthetic... A band worth considering, I guess? 

 

 

Edited July 31, 2017 by Tokage

[saltofstones 136]

I reckon this will be a great resource center for those like me, who tend to like a lot of the acts mentioned but still have a lot of catching up to do, both in terms of their respective discographies and in checking out some of the old school greats. I like mostly everything Eiji and Sharaku-related (altho I too failed to listen to any GalapagosS post-Run Like Fury which just didn't live up to their first 3 releases). Benizemi are probably the weirdest bunch in the scene I've heard so far, not quite sure what to make of them, but they do feature my favorite tone-deaf-drunk-from-the-local-pub type of vocals, so bonus points for that.

 

I am still far from being in the know, so I wonder if Azafuse count too?  -atO- seems to have resuscitated the project after an extended hiatus, albeit I am not sure if it's the full band or it has morphed into more of a solo venture.

 

Spoiler

 

 

[anakuro 847]

3 hours ago, Tokage said:

It's prob gonna be fun, they seem to be pretty energetic (when they're actually playing songs lmao)

 

Pinokiwo tho....

Yeah I'm looking forward to seeing 太平洋ベルト ...possibly more than I am matsutake works (sorry eiji).... 

 

I've survived Pinokiwo once but idk if I can do it again. Let's just hope the bar is separate from the floor so I can escape (._.; )

 

oh man i'm feeling that Kalavinka (now that i have a chance to listen) & 首振りDolls 👌
Not so big on Otome Kokka and they're kind of a mess imo--demoting their drummer because he sucked (to what? their mascot? idek what he does anymore i dont really keep up with them) and getting a new drummer--almost losing their contract with Terakoya (because...they're not that good ? and have like 2 fans total idk). 

 

[Tokage 5930]

@saltofstonesI'd say Azafuse counts, they used to be labeled as angura back in the '00s along w/ other bands like Uma (who were also pretty good actually) and such. Didn't know they were back!

 

Here's another ''newer'' band that popped up in the last decade.

 

ラチ (The Lachi)

These guys formed back in 2007 and disbanded/stopped activities somewhere in 2011. Their drummer went on to join the short-lived angura band Mujina. They released a handful of singles, maxi-singles and at least one album from what I've been able to gather. Their vocalist is also the bassist. Don't think I've ever been able to find their stuff for DL anywhere, but apparently somebody upped a bunch of stuff to YT.

Spoiler

 

 

 

Edited July 31, 2017 by Tokage