13. Atarashii Gakko!AG! Calling

We travel a lot and we spend a lot of time in Japan, and I’m always trying to find something within the pop world that I can grab a hold of. So many things now just seem so manufactured and tame, and the recordings by Atarashii Gakko! are not especially extraordinary, but in a live context, I’ve seen a couple of their shows on television in Japan, and they’re really, really powerful. They’re an interesting band because, when you look at them, you kind of assume: ‘Oh, it’s just another one of those cutesy Japanese J-pop girl things where they’re dressed in school girl outfits’, but it’s not. They’re almost taking that and twisting it in a different direction, and they’re kind of nasty in a certain sense and really funny too. Their live shows are really, really strong and relentless. Their records are maybe more tame than what they are in a live setting – it’s true of a lot of people – but even more extreme with them. So anyway, I became a big fan of their work. I have a passion for Japan in general and they’re a good example of contemporary Japanese pop culture that isn’t just manufactured J-pop – it really seems like it’s coming from them and I like their independent spirit.