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18 Songs in 21 Minutes? Japanese Band Otoboke Beaver Shows You How It’s Done [Japan]

By on May 7, 2022

Brilliantly manic band Otoboke Beaver have released their brand new album ‘Super Champon’ today. An entire 18 track album at total running time of 21 minutes? Why would you expect anything less from this incredibly talented band!

Here’s the full write up from Damnably Records:

Across 18 songs, chief singer-songwriter Acco expands the band’s possibilities and pushes their musical skills to the limit. Acco has remarked previously that she is more influenced by ‘manzai’, a traditional style of comedy in Japanese culture comparable to double act comedy or stand-up comedy exemplified by its use of slang puns and wordplay, speedy back-and-forth dialogue and impeccable timing in delivering a punchline, characteristics of which Otoboke Beaver’s music shares in droves.

PARDON? is the album’s lead single, a jokey recounting of a situation the band oft find themselves in with unrelenting miscommunication of unsolicited and overzealous points of view. The simple lyrical refrains are an extreme contrast to the stop-start time changes and dizzying pace. Loneliness and dating are hot topics, tackling contradictory desires (‘Leave me alone! No, stay with me!’, ‘I don’t want to die alone’), rebuffing them (‘First class side-guy’, ‘You’re no hero shut up F**k you man-whore’) and all the absurdities in between (‘I checked your cellphone’, ‘Do you want me to send a DM’).

Previously released singles ‘I am not maternal’, ‘Don’t call me mojo’ and ‘Dirty old fart is waiting for my reaction’ sees the band pushing back on societal pressure to reproduce, calling out ridiculous judgments on what gives a woman value, and reacting to uninvited counsel from patronizing persons. The food-themed songs here are figurative rather than literally about food. YAKITORI (Japanese grilled chicken) is a weapon of choice in a petty act of revenge. ‘I won’t dish out salad’ is an allegorical rejection of actions and roles expected of genders.

In ‘Nabe party with pocket brothers’ the band imagines the awkwardness of a hotpot party with partner-swapped exes. ‘George & Janice’ is the second song from Damnably’s roster to pay tribute to the marriage of the label’s co-heads (the other was from Say Sue Me), with a typically hilarious take on the couple’s bickering love. ‘Let’s shopping after show’ is a short and to-the-point hustle, all bands need to eat.”

Go blast the band’s latest record and be ready to be blow away (again)!

The band is heading out on a US tour later this year – the dates are below:

2022 Tour Dates
June 2 Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound
June 30 Belfort, FR @ Les Eurockéennes
July 8 Trenčín, SK @ Pohoda Festival
July 9 Leiden, NL @ Werfpop
July 11 Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Noord
Sept 30 Toronto, ON, CA @ Lee’s Place
Oct 2 Philadelphia, PA, US @ Johnny Brenda’s
Oct 3 Boston, MA, US @ The Sinclair
Oct 5 Brooklyn, NY, US @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Oct 6 Washington, DC, US @ Union Stage
Oct 8 Chicago, IL, US @ Empty Bottle (sold out)
Oct 9 Chicago, IL, US @ Empty Bottle
Oct 11 Denver, CO, US @ Globe Hall
Oct 14 Seattle, WA, US @ The Crocodile
Oct 16 Portland, OR, US @ Doug Fir
Oct 18 San Francisco, CA, US @ Great American Music Hall
Oct 19 Los Angeles, CA, US @ Echoplex
Oct 21 San Diego, CA, US @ The Casbah

And then Europe next year:

2nd May 2023 – London, UK @ Electric Ballroom
4th May 2023 – Manchester, UK @ Club Academy
5th May 2023 – Glasgow, UK @ Saint Luke’s
8th May 2023 – Dublin, IE @ Button Factory
10th May 2023 – Bristol, UK @ The Fleece
16th May 2023 – Brussels, BE @ AB Club
17th May 2023 – Groningen, NL@ Vera
18th May 2023 – Rotterdam, NL @ Rotown
19th May 2023 – Nijmegen, NL @ Doornroosje
20th May 2023 – Den Haag, NL @ PAARD

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