I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know an awful lot about Japanese Music. I think the last Japanese band I actively listened to was the Mad Capsule Markets when I was 14 and, other than that, my image of the scene there has always been of schoolgirls dancing around screaming to saccharine J-Pop. Fortunately, my over the top stereotyping doesn’t reflect what’s actually going on within and the country, as it turns out, has a fantastic burgeoning indie scene. Japanese indie rockers Taffy headlined King Tut’s on Monday night. This was my first experience of the band at all, so they had to work pretty hard to impress - read on to find out if they succeeded.
To warm us up, the gig had a number of local support acts on the bill, starting with The Modests. A very young, inexperienced band who are due to be cut a bit of slack for this very reason; they made decent enough noises with their instruments, and their stage presence wasn’t terrible (bar a tad of “we’re too cool for this lark” syndrome) but they just took too many cues from their favourite bands to really offer anything original or particularly interesting. Still, a good meaty, stompy set to get the crowd raring to go.
The real surprise of the evening followed immediately afterwards with another relatively unknown local band, The Clocks. These guys were 100% new to me and they truly impressed, with accomplished musicianship and genuinely interesting song writing. Their songs ranged from heavy to ethereal, everything given an interesting eeriness thanks to the use of electric violin in the line-up - and the front man had an octave range that would make anyone jealous. He really gave the performance his all which was great to see, although the rest of the band could have taken a leaf out of his book, appearing somewhat awkward and uninvolved, as the front man cavorted about emotionally. I would love to see these guys again sometime, however was dismayed to see their Facebook page suggests they might be splitting up. It’s not often you come across a small local band with any genuine quality, so this is a real shame.
The third and final support act of the night, The Monty Hall Problem, were a bit of a non event. Their whole set was effectively a big in-joke with their pals down the front, and any quality they may have had was impossible to decipher through the overly-shouty vocals and overly-thrashy guitars. Pass.
Putting this slight blip in the line-up out of mind, I eagerly awaited the stars of the show - and I couldn’t have been much more impressed. In interviews, Taffy always play down comparisons to some of the best brit-pop bands of all time, however it’s hard to avoid that they really do purvey that sunny 90s, distinctly British-indie sound. This is the kind of music that it’s impossible to listen to without a massive smile on your face, especially as the band are having such a good time on stage, and aren’t afraid to show it.
The 4 members of the band exude a style all of their own, coming together to create a fantastic stage presence. From the slightly withdrawn floatiness of the vocalist, to the over the top headbanging of the bassist - and the ear-to-ear grin of the drummer to the deadpan lead guitarist (who still couldn’t help but eventually crack a smile to the on-form Glasgow audience) these guys just exuded cool.
Musically, they sound great. It’s a tad difficult to draw any direct comparisons, but their music is bouncy, fun, relatively heavy indie, with floaty female vocals. The guys got an amazing welcome from the Glasgow audience, creating a really special atmosphere of mutual appreciation which won’t be quickly forgotten. Seeing a band live before you’ve ever listened to them at all, it can be extremely challenging to get involved. Taffy, with their understated coolness and outright humility were impossible NOT to love and by the end of the night I felt I could definitely call myself a fan.
Unfortunately, King Tut’s was Taffy’s last show of their UK tour so you might not see them about any time soon, however they are being pushed pretty heavily over here right now so watch this space if you’re keen to see these guys live. You can find out more about the band on their offical website, and even stream their first album completely free!
