W♥M

Peelander-Z at Turf Club, St Paul (10/20/12)

Tour Dates 10/23 Seattle, WA @ Funhouse * 10/25 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of The Hill * 10/26 Stockton, CA @ Plea For Peace Center * 10/27 Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg Bar * 10/28 Phoenix, AZ @ The Trunk Space * 10/31 Dallas, TX @ Club Dada * 11/01 Shreveport, LA @ Fatty Arbuckles * 11/02 Austin, TX @ Red 7 FunFunFun Festival 11/03 Austin, TX @ FunFunFun Festival 11/04 Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live * 11/06 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks * 11/09 Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn * 11/10 Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge * 11/13 Tallahassee, FL @ Rehab * 11/14 Orlando, FL @ The Social * 11/15 Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum * 11/17 Gainesville, FL @ High Dive * * with Electric Eel Shock Read More Peelander-Z Our favorite Japanese Superhero band is back from their space vacation. Peelander-Z, as you know, is a touring band. They are a band that is always fun to watch, and even if you've seen them five times (like me), their shows never gets old ...

Peelander-Z's space ship crashed at the Turf Club in Saint Paul, last night. They brought with them Electric Eel Shock, who I previously mentioned were "originally an 11-piece band, it was absolutely a logistic nightmare that they're currently just a trio."

ELECTRIC EEL SHOCK

EES was a blast to watch, they play high energy Japanese metal and clearly influenced by Black Sabbath with their cover of "Iron Man." I panned left and noticed pubic hair. WTF the drummer was naked! That's what you get for being in front of the stage.

I think they may be taking a cue from Peelander-Z with their effort to get the audience to participate in their songs. They're still a lot of fun to watch, and I know for a fact that there were a few fans in the audience that came just to see EES and Peelander-Z was an added bonus.

Speaking of which, here's a little behind-the-scenes from the planet Peelander-Z: This is Peelander-Red's last tour with Peelander-Z. I don't know if they're going to permanently replace him with Black or a new color. As Cristina and I previously discussed Red is her favorite Peelander. We also noted how their lineup changed with Peelander-Blue leaving the band and was replaced by Peelander-Green. Then there was Peelander-Black (who did not make an appearance on this current tour) and the girl version called Peewonder-Z.

TYPICAL PEELANDER-RED

Are the changes good? I think the more important thing to notice is that Peelander-Z is constantly evolving. I think this is important, especially for fans, like me, that go to all their shows. Every show there is a subtle change, for instance, their costume has been altered with helmets or wigs or extra facial hair or new garments. But I think the best is that the audience is part of the show. My favorite is when they ask for people in the audience to play their instruments while they go in the audience to do limbo and squid bowling.

Setlist is similar to their appearance in May: Intro space countdown, "So Many Mikes", "Under Zero Gravity" (which they called "Zero Zero"), "Mad Tiger", "Taco Taco Taco", "Ice Cream", "Get Glasses", "Ninja High School" (always my favorite song from them), "S.T.E.A.K.", and they ended their set with a cover of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." Notably missing is "EIEIO" (Old Macdonald Had a Farm).

Go see Peelander-Z on this tour to say farewell to Peelander-Red on his last tour. If you've never seen Peelander-Z before, go ahead and take a chance on them. Be warned: you'll become an instant fan if you do see them. Scanning around the audience last night, there was a ton of Peelander-Z T-Shirts! That's awesome.

Peelander-Z is currently on tour in support of their new album, Space Vacation, out now via Chicken Ranch.

Peelander-Z at Turf Club, St Paul (10/20/12)

vu () ♥ www.peelander-z.com

Turning Japanese

Read More Peelander-Z You know the story, we here at W♥M loves Peelander-Z, so..

PEELANDER-Z
peelander-z.com

The problem with seeing a favorite band over and over again is that it might old. That's why bands keep releasing new music, hoping to play old favorites, but mixing in new songs they haven't tried before. Since Cristina and I have been steadily following Peelander-Z since 2008, I have to say that it's been really fun to see the band through the evolution of their gigs. Sometime it's the same-old-thing, but it's fun and never gets old.

So, I have been listening to Peelander-Z's new album, Space Vacation, it doesn't capture the energy and happiness of seeing them live. But what it is, it's a good themed album. Unlike their moving to the countryside theme of "P-TV-Z, Space Vacation seems to follow a visitor who came to Earth and is introduced to Sushi. It's not as complicated as it sound.

The music is typical Peelander-Z, a little DIY and punk attitude, however I thought their lead single "Star Bowling" and "Mr Tea" sounded really pop. Fans of punk should be comfortable with "Big Bang" and "Sa Yo Na La-La", which sounds like the Ramones from Japan.

As a cover-lover, you know that I did appreciate their cover of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". I wasn't absolutely sure if it's some voice modification, but I think it's Peelander-Pink on lead vocals for this song. One of the problems of reviewing music via digital MP3 is that they never send the liner notes so you have to guess at these things. I will find out the truth when I see them live in May.

BONUS: Listen to Introduction to Peelander-Z and Peelander-Black explained (26 mins in).

Peelander-Z, is, of course, always on tour:

04/11 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Upstairs 04/12 New York, NY @ Rocks Off Concert Cruise 04/13 Philadelphia, PA @ The Fire 04/14 Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar 04/15 Washington, DC @ DC9 04/16 Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter 04/17 Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall 04/19 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade 04/20 Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum 04/21 Gainesville, FL @ Double Down 04/22 Pensacola, FL @ Vinyl Music Hall 04/24 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks 04/25 Houston, TX @ Walter's On Washington 04/26 San Antonio, TX @ The Korova 04/27 Norman, OK @ Opolis Norman Music Festival

04/28 Dallas, TX @ Prophet Bar 04/30 Kansas City, MO @ Recordbar 05/02 Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater 05/05 Los Angeles, CA @ Roxy Theatre 05/06 San Francisco, CA @ DNA Lounge 05/08 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater 05/09 Seattle, WA @ El Corazon 05/11 Bozeman, MT @ Zebra Cocktail Lounge 05/13 Sioux Falls, SD @ Boonies Bar & BBQ 05/14 Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium 05/15 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry 05/16 Chicago, IL @ Reggies Music Joint 05/17 Pontiac, MI @ The Crofoot 05/18 Akron, OH @ Musica

Read More Guitar Wolf The legend is back in the USA! The last we heard from them was when the original Bass Guitar died. With new Bass Guitar (UG) and Drum Wolf, be prepared to have your face melt off when they come to town.

GUITAR WOLF
guitarwolf.net

Yeah, I know, you must be tired of hearing me talk about Guitar Wolf (here, here, here, and here) - but I wanted to remind you that Guitar Wolf's show in Minneapolis is this week, on SUNDAY. I know it is Easter.

I will be picking up some 10" of Jet Satisfaction which was originally released in Japan in 2009, but available for the first time in the USA with this tour. I did take a sneak peak at some of their tour merchandise at guitarwolfshop.com and I will likely pick up a set of pins as well. I wish bands would make patches; I'd love a Guitar Wolf logo to sew on my bag…

Here is what's left of their USA tour:

4/05 St Louis, MO Firebird
4/06 Lawrence, KS Bottleneck
4/07 Des Moines, IA Gas Lamp
4/08 Minneapolis, MN 7th St Entry
4/09 Fargo, ND Aquarium
4/10 Rapid City, SD Skullets
4/11 Missoula, MT The Top Hat
4/13 Bellingham, WA The Shakedown
4/14 Seattle, WA Corazon
4/15 Portland, OR Hawthorne Theatre
4/17 San Francisco, CA Bottom of the Hill
4/18 Los Angeles, CA The Satellite
4/19 Santa Ana, CA Constellation Room
4/20 San Diego, CA Casbah
4/21 Phoenix, AZ Martini Ranch
4/22 Albuquerque, NM Launchpad
4/24 San Antonio, TX White Rabbit
4/25 Dallas, TX Trees
4/26 Memphis, TN Hi-Tone

BRIEFLY:

ELECTRIC EEL SHOCK electriceelshock.com Originally an 11-piece band, it was absolutely a logistic nightmare that they're currently just a trio. Electric Eel Shock or EES is currently back in Japan, doing some local Tokyo dates: 2012/04/06 新宿JAM / Shinjuku JAM Tokyo 2012/04/11 下北沢シェルター / Shimokitazawa Shelter、Tokyo 2012/05/01 下北沢シェルター / Shimokitazawa Shelter、Tokyo

MONO monoishere.com Not to be confused with the defunct French band, this Mono is a Japanese instrumental shoegaze band. Their last album, called Hymn to the Immortal Wind, which was three years ago, and rumor is that Mono has a yet-to-be-titled album coming out this year, 2012.

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