David Bolan, Author at JROCK NEWS

SCANDAL establish private record label “her”

25 December 2018

After a series of teasing yet cryptic Instagram posts, SCANDAL announced at their BEST Xmas 2018 concert that they will be starting up their own record label called "her". The Christmas Eve show took place at T...

BRATS’ fast and furious live video “Kimarigoto”

David Bolan

9 October 2018

Music Video

Following up on the summer release of their eponymous debut album, punky trio BRATS have released a new fast and furious live video to track Kimarigoto on their YouTube channel giving everyone a taste of how po...

Review: Velvet Ants’ buzzworthy album “Entomological Souvenirs I”

David Bolan

29 September 2018

Releases, Review

The other day, without warning, a dragonfly landed on my shoulder and scared the hell out of me. In the half second before I jumped out of my chair and frightened it off I had a glimpse of bulbous alien eyes an...

Interview: How to run a Tokyo record label with Ian Martin

David Bolan

13 August 2018

Exclusive, Interview

Ian Martin is a man who wears many hats. Not only is he busy running his own Tokyo based music label, Call and Response Records, home to bands like Looprider, Tropical Death, and SHARKK, but Ian's also a season...

Review: BRATS issues powerful and punky debut album

David Bolan

1 August 2018

Releases, Review

Albums used to come with a sticker admonishment to "play it loud," and this might be good advice for BRATS, the impressive eponymous debut released July 25 by a trio composed of sisters Rei and Aya Kuromiya and...

SEA LEVEL make waves with album “Dictionary (Handwritten)”

David Bolan

17 July 2018

Releases, Review

Dictionary (Handwritten), the ten song album released by indie band SEA LEVEL on July 11, is an eclectic yet satisfying mix of ambient drones, found sound collages, and piano ballads that alternate off-kilter r...

KANA-BOON reach for the stars with EP “Aster”

David Bolan

5 June 2018

Releases

Redoubtable mop-topped alt-rockers KANA-BOON issued a five-song EP, Aster, on May 30 with the upbeat and energetic, albeit meanderingly named, leadoff track, Wandering Days and Fanfare, previously out as an acc...

Gesu no Kiwami Otome cycle their way through “Mou setsunai to wa iwasenai” music video

David Bolan

16 May 2018

Music Video

The always charmingly enigmatic and hard to classify Gesu no Kiwami Otome released a video for a new song, Mou setsunai to wa iwasenai, on May 11, to commemorate the sixth year of the band's formation. The tune...

SCANDAL set to rock U.S. with shows this fall

David Bolan

4 May 2018

News, Tour

A handful of September U.S. concert dates have popped up on SCANDAL's Facebook page with more information doubtless to follow. So far, four shows spanning the breadth of the country have been noted including on...

SCANDAL and MIYAVI celebrate Fender’s “Made in Japan” pride

David Bolan

29 April 2018

News, Videos

All four members of the much-beloved rock powerhouse band that is SCANDAL plus slap guitar virtuoso MIYAVI feature in a just-released short promo video from Fender Japan showcasing the Made in Japan 2018 Limite...

ROCK IN JAPAN FES. 2018 lineup announced

David Bolan

18 April 2018

Entertainment, Tour

The recently announced artist lineup for the ROCK IN JAPAN FES. 2018, held over two consecutive weekends in August, reads like a who's who of Jrock and Jpop with enough talent breadth and all-around sonic kick-...

LAMP IN TERREN’s single “Dreams” is wide awake pop

David Bolan

8 April 2018

News, Releases

As a follow-up to January's single, Hana To Shinjin, LAMP IN TERREN released their new song, Dreams, on April 6, and it's another winner with buttery smooth yet powerfully emotive vocals from Daio Matsumoto. Th...

BLUE ENCOUNT zero in on pop perfection with album “Vector”

David Bolan

26 March 2018

Releases

Vector, BLUE ENCOUNT's third major label album released March 21, is a fourteen-song punky power-pop blast of giddy exuberance with soaring choruses and melodies that burrow so deep into your ear you'll be humm...

Ventures guitarist Nokie Edwards passes away

David Bolan

15 March 2018

News

The term "legendary" gets used too frequently, but it fits Nokie Edwards, who passed away March 12 at age 82. As lead guitarist for the Ventures, he inspired scores of would be musicians to pick up the guitar a...

Author David Bolan