Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re (つしまみれ, TSMMR) is an all-girl Japanese rock trio. Their style is eclectic punk rock, mixing noisy and pop instrumental sounds with idiosyncratic, quirky, often funny or disturbing lyrics. They are one of the many bands to have become famous in the United States through the Austin, Texas South by Southwest music festival, and also through their performances at anime conventions, with the Suicide Girls, and at Benten Label's "Japan Girls Nite" U.S. tours.
The band's original lineup consisted of Mari Kono on lead guitar and vocals, Yayoi Tsushima on bass, and Mizue Masuda on drums. They originally formed the band while in college in Chiba, Japan. In January 2017, Mizue announced she was leaving the band to pursue other projects. The band now performs with their new drummer, Maiko Takagi.
Tsushimamire is a neologism coined by the band, not a real Japanese word. It is a combination of Tsushima (the family name of bassist Yayoi) with "Ma" (from guitarist/vocalist Mari Kono) and "Mi" (from original drummer Mizue Masuda). In addition, mamire means "mixed up" in Japanese: thus the effect is that of "Tsushima (Yayoi), Mari and Mizue all mixed together."
Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re's musical style can be broadly classified as punk rock, with eclectic influences of noise and Japanese pop music. Several of their songs begin with strong bass lines by Yayoi, but Mari's guitar and Mizue's drums finally make equal contributions. Several songs combine sweet female vocal harmonies with hard drum playing and punk guitar riffs, for a deliberately ironic effect, for example in their signature tune, "Tea Time Ska". The lyrics are consistently quirky and idiosyncratic, with the most common themes being sex, food, and death, and sometimes all three at once. Underneath sweet vocal harmonies, the lyrics frequently hint at far darker, scarier themes.
Food is a noticeable subject in their lyrics. In the rap-rock title song from "no-miso shortcake (brain shortcake)", lead singer Mari invites the listener to eat her brain. In "Kamaboco (Fish Cakes)", all three girls play the roles of food ingredients in Japanese hotpot, with fish cakes (Mari) feeling rejected and lonely because she is never added to hotpot. In their very first single, "American Hamburger", an upbeat pop song, the singer describes herself as fat and food-loving but beautiful; the first line is, "I'm a pig so I eat pork."
Some of their most powerful songs address death and its inevitability. In "Na-mellow (Nameru)", the singer plays the role of the young daughter of a fisherman, who gradually realizes her father will never return from a fishing voyage. In "Manhole", the singer speculates about where manholes in the street might lead to, perhaps to the land of the dead.
Another common theme is sex, which is frequently juxtaposed against the squeaky-clean stereotype of the innocent-looking Japanese girl. In the title song from Pregnant Fantasy, the unborn baby of a pregnant teenager asks why her mother will bear her when she is not wanted. In "World Peace & BOU", the singer appears to be speculating that world peace can be brought about by a cartoon penis.
"Tea Time Ska", the song which often closes their live shows, features a unique mix of punk-rock screaming and sweet harmonies. It describes an innocent young girl who invites her first boyfriend home for tea. However, her father, "who loves me too much", becomes jealous of the boyfriend because his daughter has never made tea for him.
In interviews, the band members have stated that their original inspiration was to be a female version of the Japanese band Blankey Jet City, whose rock music is very fast, energetic, and full of rapid changes. They also consider Rage Against the Machine to be an influence. Yayoi has also expressed a fondness for Western classical music.
In 2007 they were voted "Best All-Girl Group" in Shojo Beat magazine's Reader's Poll, with 73.4% of the vote.
Brats are an all-female rock act consisting of sisters Rei & Aya Kuromiya (vox & bass respectively) and guitarist Hinako - plus a support drummer.
Rei Kuromiya is more well-known for being part of infamous idol act Ladybaby, but quit the band last year having tired of the idol scene. Brats itself predates Ladybaby, having been going since 2011.
The overall sound is somewhat of a poppier take on 90s grunge (a lot of which in turn was a re-take of 70s rock), but probably the closest point of comparison I can think of (in terms of Japanese acts) is a snottier, less polished Band-Maid.
Despite Rei's idol past, she can actually sing, and there's no squeaky vocals to be found here.
The band has thus far released a single - Ainikoiyo/ Nounai Shoukyo Game (extended to an EP for the international version), and a full-length, Brats, released on July 25. The full-length pretty much cannibalises the single, other than one studio track and some live stuff.
There is no schedule or ticket right now.
日本、〒115-0045 東京都北区赤羽１丁目７−９ Map
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Tokyo", "BRATS", "Mai Yajima", "Oya Rikako", "TsuShiMaMiRe", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
Content listed above is edited and modified some for making article reading easily. All content above are auto generated by service.
All images used in articles are placed as quotation. Each quotation URL are placed under images.
All maps provided by Google.