Mad Capsule Markets
Midi Surf

Japan. One of the most hard-working and disciplined countries on earth, complete with some of the most demanding school hours on earth. This is a country where even motorcycle gang leaders have the internet.

As such, is it any wonder that there is such vibrant youth culture? From Cornelius to Melt Banana, from Thee Michelle Gun Elephant to The Boredoms, some of the most exciting, creative (and sometimes, unlistenable) bands of the last 10 years have come out of Japan.

Of course, this neat little hypothesis neatly ignores the Japanese’ love for manufactured boy and girl bands (sometimes manufactured to the point of being computerised), hair metal and Shampoo, but bear with me.

Anyways, another band to add to the list of cool Japanese bands is Mad Capsule Markets.

Taken from their album Osc-Dis (recorded over two years ago, but only just released internationally), it is on the surface quite standard techno-metal, albeit far more interesting and creative than Static-X et al, with the dance and metal parts far better integrated, but with a hitherto unexplored influence: The Wildhearts.

So it begins with a crunching guitar riff and programmed drum beat, but has one of the most blissful, get-up-and-dance punk choruses I’ve heard in a long time, without losing an iota of the aggression of the verse.