by Brian Dubin
FUTURE IS IN OUR HANDS/TSUYAMA HC COMPILATION 7" by Various Artists
Tsuyama, Japan. Where is that?
When I moved to Japan, I'd never heard of Tsuyama but it turns out I'd be living about 20 minutes away from there. Tsuyama is a small city, situated about 2 and a half hours west of Osaka, in the middle of the countryside in Western Japan. Most of us Westerners have most likely never heard of it. After being in Japan for a little less than a month, my friend Jesse (who'd been living in Osaka for years) told me that there were punk shows in this town called Tsuyama. My reaction was "No shit! Really?" I was so excited because I was concerned that I wasn't going to be able to see shows that frequently living in the countryside. So, I found out where the venue, called K2, was and went to a show. I remember that Skizophrenia and The Sick played. Both bands blew me away. After the show, some people invited me to stay for the after party. I stayed and tried to talk to people as best I could since at the time my Japanese was terrible (not that it's incredible now or anything). It was a great time and I got to meet a lot of people. Since then, all of the people in Tsuyama have been really welcoming and are now my good friends.
There is an incredible music community in Tsuyama and I am thankful to be close to it and be around it. I try to go to all of the punk shows at K2 because it's always fun and I've seen some of the best shows there since living in Japan. The people are great and even though it's small and not a giant city, everyone makes the best of it and has fun.
"Play Loud and about 30 People Die!!" adorns the back of this 7" compilation which features 4 of Tsuyama's best punk/hardcore bands: Last, Disturd, The Sick and Skizophrenia. All of these bands are loved in Tsuyama as well as the rest of Japan.
Last play a more straight forward style of hardcore and put on one of my favorite live shows. Disturd are reminiscent of some of my favorite 80's thrash metal bands. Think Sacrilege or The Accused.
The Sick are a melodic, fast and frenetic hardcore band with some of the catchiest songs I've heard since living in Japan. They also put on a stellar live show.
Skizophrenia are the local favorites in Tsuyama and people love them all over Japan. They play an original style of '70s/'80s street punk that you really just don't hear much these days. It's quite refreshing and exciting. Plus, their live show is killer. People go absolutely nuts!
All of these bands are different and unique from one another, but they all work together to make a positive and vibrant music scene in Tsuyama. There are other great Tsuyama bands that are not on this compilation, like Massgrave and Death Dust Extractor. There is a thriving scene here and everyone works really hard to keep it going. All in all, I think the future for Tsuyama punk looks pretty damn good!
