by Jacob A. Bennett

The “Japan Girls Nite US Tour 2005” checked into the Abbey Lounge at 3 Beacon St. March 22 presented by the Benton Label with a show that included four Japanese girl bands that shocked and amazed the packed house.

"Benten is the name of one of the Seven Gods of Good Fortune. Benten (or Ben Zai ten), is the goddess of music, art, happiness and love,” said Audrey Kimura, the label’s founder.

The key concept of Benten label is silliness and seriousness; we enjoy the silliness of our music seriously, she said.

The first group to hit the stage was The Emeralds. The lead vocalist/guitarist, Kazuya said to the audience, “As you can see, we are not a girl band.”
Indeed, they were the only group on the bill whose lineup was entirely composed of men, and dressed in full leather at that. No one seemed to mind, despite the apparent bait and switch.

The group – Kazuya, joined by Osuke (bass) and Akio (drums) – jumped right into their short set of songs. They supplied a bounding kind of rock, full of tightly riffed guitar licks and boogie bass.

At one point, Akio said of the band was like mamma-jamma Samurai. Enough said.

Next up was the quintet Puppy Pet, fronted by twins Sachi and Tomo, whose sound was infectious. Theirs was a power-chord driven pop-punk, with tinges of ska; the keyboard-harmonica even lent a sense of 1960’s psychdelia to the mix.

By the time the band started it was difficult to stay close to the stage, as the adorable twins – both girls – attracted most of the men in the crowd toward the front of the stage Lead vocalist Sachi endeared the crowd with her sweet voice, while the rest of the band – Arama (guitar), Ryo-Ta (bass), Yanagi (drums) and Tomo (vocals and keyboard-harmonica) – revved up into a pogo frenzy.    

Third up were the Titan Go King’s, a punchy girl-punk trio. Pinky (vocals/guitar), Yonyon (bass) and Lintsu (drums) warmed the place up with their fast-paced songs and pom-pom adorned wool caps.

The Titan Go King invoke the impression that the Violent Femmes had somehow inhabited the bodies of these three tiny females.

Their size, however, was not a measure of their sound, with now and then a cacophonous volley of intense screaming to break up the short, bubbly tunes. The only drawback to this otherwise entertaining group was the occasional pitch problem, with the vocals slipping flat once or twice.

With the foundation built, it was up to the next band to maintain the crowd’full-throttle rock’n’roll mode.

The fourth band, Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re did everything they could to maintain the vibe.

The band was the most original act of the night and the absolute highlight of the bill.

The name does not mean anything in Japanese, composed of made up words that a flier describes as sounding very Japanese, nostalgic and a little bit scary, Mari (vocals/guitar), Yayoi (bass/vocals) and Mizue (drums/vocals) certainly fit that description.

Incorporating pensive bass lines and alternately shrill and husky vocals, these ladies make music that vacillates between hip-shaking sexy and downright frightening.
One great song, “Tea Time Ska,” is about drinking tea with a boyfriend, and the chorus’ saccharine repetition of the word cha, which is tea in Japanese, immediately precedes Mari’s convincing imitation of a metal-core guttural.

In another song, “Manhole,” it was hard to determine whether the helpless wailing of the chorus was the result of real suffering, or if it was simply a ruse. Chaotic guitar and chilling spoken vocals seemed to reveal the true nature and intent of these enticing Sirens.

Last on stage, and most confusing of all, were the headlining ukulele duo, Petty Booka.

They came out wearing Lone Ranger-style cowboy hats and vests, replete with bright red tassels.

It was confusing say why Petty and Booka held the closing slot of a show billed as punk rock from the Far East. Either one is in on the joke or not.
There were some crowd-pleasing moments, though, as when they covered the Ramones’ “Rockaway Beach,” or Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.”

Whatever the reasoning behind the decision to have Petty Booka close, and despite the cooling effect it had after such a raucous night, the ukulele duo was indeed charming.

In fact, the whole night was charming, sexy and fun.