Afrirampo

If The 5.6.7.8's and OOIOO had a love child, it'd be Afrirampo, an outrageously silly but musically daring girl group from Osaka, Japan. Oni and Pikachu, as they call themselves, use drums, an electric guitar and voice-distorting gadgets for their avant-rock, which is basically the 21st century description for the noise music that the Boredoms, UFO or Die and other bands hailing from Osaka had created in the late 20th century. It'd be tempting to describe Afrirampo vis a vis other Japanese girl bands such as Shonen Knife and Puffy Ami Yumi. Afrirampo would have never followed the traditional route of going to a junior college and working for Japan Inc. as OLs, or office ladies, a la Shonen Knife. And Puffy Ami Yumi would need to take a lot of crystal meth to sound like Afrirampo. For last night’s show at The Smell, Oni and Pikachu were dressed like Vegas showgirls transported back to the Stone Age. They shredded their red lace and satin costumes and smeared crimson glitter all over their faces. The crowd loved them, especially when they ended their one-hour set by banging wooden drumsticks on the speakers, mic stand and brick wall edging the small stage. Too bad Afrirampo didn't use a theremin in their act. I would have loved to pick up some tips for learning how to play the electronic wave instrument that I purchased earlier that day online. One of the four opening bands did, however. Harasser psyched everyone out by opening its act with a moody theremin solo accompanied by drums. Then the theremin player switched to an electric guitar, and the shirtless lead singer stomped onto the middle of the floor. The singer was an intimidating presence to say the least, what with the fake blood he had poured down his shaved head, tattooed torso and ZZ Top-style beard. The effect was appropriate for the speed metal that he spewed for the next 15 minutes or so. For the new band that I'm going to start with Drummer Girl and other friends, I'm thinking that we should follow Harasser's cue and psyche the audience out by starting with a raging drum solo and mellowing into a Portishead-like tune.

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