Japanese Comic Book Action Punk

The photo is from Peelander-Z.com.

Peelander-Z, billed as "Japanese Comic Book Action Punk”, played Thursday October 5 at the Turf Club.

I have twice been to Japan, and even watched some Japanese bands play in the park at Osaka, and back when it was allowed, at the Harajuku area of Tokyo. I knew to expect coifed hair and elaborate costumes. I knew unbridled enthusiasm and off-key lounge singing were also possible.

Peelander-Z brought the hair, the costumes and the enthusiasm. Like local band Manplanet, Peelander-Z wore brightly colored costumes. The three piece band seemed to be lead by Yellow, who did all of the singing. Red, the guitar player, had the coifed hair. Purple played drums and displayed cue cards.

The Peelander-Z yellow character, gapped toothed like a Pogue, got the audience involved for just about every song. We learned to make a "Z" shape with our arms as they chanted, "Peelander” then "Z". Surprisingly, since no one in Japan pronounces the "L" sound correctly, Peelander-Z pronounced their name the same way English speakers would.

Some members of the audience had Asian folding fans with the letter "P” on them, and during one song they fanned the face of Yellow. Yellow appeared to enjoy this immensely. (I later learned that the fans came from the merch booth.) One "action” portion of the show featured Yellow hurling himself at bowling pins, set up on the beer covered floor, in front of the stage. Video of this stunt is on their web site. Yellow picked his nose every time he needed something to do. Nose picking is very rude, especially in Japan, so this seemed perfect for a punk band.

We learned that Peelander-Z orders steak "Medium Rare”. They made this point with cue cards, in a song which seemed like an English lesson. Language lessons made good punk songs. The band was always getting us to chant something.

Most of the crowd had already been on stage with the band during one audience participation stunt or another. Taped Japanese lounge singing made a fitting sendoff.

The crowd of about forty was constantly using their camera phones, so expect a larger crowd next time they are in town. As multicultural experiences go, this was as fun as they come.