Happy New Year! Welcome to 2007, the Year of the Boar here in Japan. 2006 has been left behind and with it another year of me not doing much with this site. Oh well! Each day brings with it the chance to start anew! And no better chance than right now, since I’m here at work with no real work to do for the foreseeable future.

Some news to start things off: Yamaty, the guitarist for one of my most favorite bands here in Japan, Ping Pong Dash!!, has decided to leave the band after 4 years. No real reason was given in the statement the band released, but it did mention that his decision wasn’t due to any bad blood between the members or anything like that. This leaves Ping Pong with 4 members, including Fat Kohey on the bagpipes, and they are currently looking for a new person to take over for Yamaty as they don’t want to play as a 4-piece (hey, it could be YOUR chance!). Yamaty’s last gig will be on January 19th at Shinjuku Antiknock. Unbelievably, this show will only cost 500 yen to get in and an additional 600 yen will buy you all-you-can-drink for the rest of the night! So, even if you don’t know who Yamaty or Ping Pong Dash!! is, a cheap night out with cheap booze should be all the incentive you need to come check it out! The event is a record release party for THE LONGISLAND LxLxP and their “A Scare of Back to Back” release. Other bands appearing are ALTRA, DAT’S, CHILD STOP, SPLIT SECOND SKATER, and more. Doors at 5:30 p.m. and show starts at 6:00 p.m.

One band I’ve been seeing some press for lately in the indies circles is 3-piece girl-band ROMANES. I haven’t heard them myself yet, but they are supposedly quite RAMONES-esque (as if you couldn’t tell by their name!) and recently did some dates together with Guitar Wolf. I had plans to check them out last night at a Yoyogi Zher the Zoo event with The Vickers, Crispy Nuts, Super Baby Face, and Lump (along with DJ mixes provided by Ryoma and Hayato from Last Target), but other things came up and I had to give it a pass. The group was recently the main feature in Kaze to Rock (風とロック), with lots of pictures and a lengthy interview.

Speaking of Kaze to Rock, it’s a pretty sweet free magazine available at Tower Records and other locations in the Tokyo-area. In the same issue with THE ROMANES, Mineta Kazunobu of Ging Nang Boyz took out a full page ad wishing all of us a Happy New Year. Down in the lower right corner he happened to mention that the live DVD which has been scheduled to come out since early last year will “Soon be on sale!!” It’s about time! I’ve been wanting to see my face on the TV since December 2005 (the DVD contains footage from the Kawasaki Club Citta show I was at, I think)!

These days more and more Japanese bands are breaking out from Japan and doing some touring elsewhere in the world. Once of those bands, Gito Gito Hustler, have swung through the U.S. a couple of times and will be headed abroad again in the near future. But they’re not about to leave Japan without throwing one hell of a party! January 20th sees them play “Yellow Crazy A Go Go!!” Volume 4, featuring their good friends Arinco*Gang and Red Bacteria Vacuum. When I went to Volume 3, the “grand finale” of sorts was a giant Battle of the Bands-type deal where all the girls formed two groups and then rocked out some covers, later polling the audience for the “winner”. It was good fun! As this is also going to be a “New Year Special Event,” there are going to be lots of prizes for audience members. How can one go wrong? The show’s going to be at Shimokitazawa Basement Bar on January 20th. Doors at 6:30 p.m., starts at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are 1800 yen in advance and probably 2000 yen at the door.

That’s all for now! Raise a pint and let’s keep rocking out the whole year through!

Technorati Tags: Ging Nang BOYZ, live, Mineta Kazunobu, news, Ping Pong Dash!!, Gito Gito Hustler, ROMANES, Shinjuku, Shinjuku Antiknock, ピンポンダッシュ！！, 銀杏BOYZ