𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗧𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄 - 𝗦/𝗧

I think it was the Pigdog Records (RIP) compilation "The Best Punk Rock In Japan, Tomodachi" that first introduced me to the Japanese punk scene, and I fell in love with the vibrancy, immediacy, and the unbridled sheer enthusiasm of it all. I even made sure when visiting Japan in 2009 that my time in Tokyo coincided with a band I wanted to see, and caught Three Minute Movie in a basement bar in Koenji.

Alas, even in these ultra-connected times, it can still be pretty difficult to get to hear a lot of these bands. It used to be that I'd pick up any album on Snuffy Smile from distros whenever I saw them. Nowadays, the same is pretty much true with the Japanese bands on Waterslide Records or Fixing A Hole Records, but it still can be tough; the Japanese web can be a very difficult to navigate as a westerner. Fortunately, I can post this debut album by Four Tomorrow, a band from Saitama, just north of Tokyo, whose album epitomises many of the things I love about Japanese punk. Here we have a few crazy song titles, a sing-a-long style (if you could only understand most of the words), tight musicianship that's intentionally sloppy when it needs to be, and a joyousness on display that many western punk bands simply lack. It's a lot of fun. 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗿 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲 / 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺:
http://fourtomorrow.bandcamp.com/album/s-t