J!-ENT
Asian Entertainment News and Pop Culture

GROUP: Pistol Valve
ALBUM: Tsunamic Girls From Tokyo
LABEL: Garule
CATALOG #: RGA-001
DURATION: 30:05
WEBSITE: http://www.pistolvalve.jp

TRACK LISTING:

1. Western Girls
2. Pull the TRIGGER!
3. Flap Up Elephant
4. Fo-Fo
5. Tube Tune
6. My Generation -Respect to the Who-
7. Sit at Cow Char Nail
8. The Best House

Things are looking great for the 10-member, all-female group known as Pistol Valve.

The group consists of Jenni 7000 (Violin & Vocal), cotton (Alto Sax & Vocal), ANDO! (Tenor Sax & Vocal), tommy (Euphonium & Vocal), DJ Lilya (Turntable), Misaty (Trumpet), Yoko Brooklyn (Tenor & Baritone Sax), Corina (Valve Trombone) and M-chan (Trumpet).

The young energetic group brings something new to the industry with ten beautiful musicians belding rock, pop and hip-hop into one.

The group has performed throughout the US for Japan Nite and SXSW in 2007 attracting new fans in the US and has now released their first album in America courtesy of Rightsscale USA.

Although we have covered their performance in Los Angeles at Japan Nite, I wasn’t sure what to expect with “Tsunamic Girls From Tokyo”.

I really enjoyed their debut album because it reminded me of old school FISHBONE. One of my favorite US bands in the 80’s and 90’s with their hip style fusing alternative rock with ska and funk.

The same can be said of Pistol Valve and what makes it so interesting is that with so many beautiful women in a band, you can think “another idol girl band?” Nope.

What you have are ten young and beautiful musicians who jam with their instruments and showcase that ska/rock sound with “Western Girls” and “Pull the TRIGGER!” and then bust into some experimentation on tracks such as the poppy and catchy “Fo-Fo”, to a J-Pop tune with “Tube Tune” and then the English cover of the Who’s “My Generation” and then the rock inspired track of “Sit At Crow Char Nail” which I really enjoyed.

As for the vocals, each song features breezy rhythms in conjunction with melodic affecting pop and rock tunes with a big dose of brass-band synergy. Most tracks are sung in Japanese with the exception of “My Generation” which is in English.

You get a little of everything on this album but one thing is consistent are the brass horns on each song and knowing that the women can definitely play.

If I had to list the negatives of this album, which there aren’t really any, it’s just the fact that there are only 8 tracks. But I enjoyed each track nevertheless.

With some labels that try to include an English track, Pistol Valve has the cover of the classic Who song “My Generation” and similar to other artists who try to sing in English, with this track, it’s pretty hard to discern the English lyrics. Also, I wish the Japanese lyrics were included inside the CD insert. But that is just me being picky.

With an album release in the US, I can only hope we see another US tour from the group. I can see a lot of potential with “Pistol Valve” and wish the best for them as they embark in the next stage in their careers of bringing their music (from Japan) to an American audience. I dig Pistol Valve and if you enjoy ska and it being fused with rock and pop, I think you will dig them as well.

For now, if you are interested in purchasing this album, please visit www.mypsace.com/pistolvalve for more info.

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