first NUMBER GIRL thread, i think?

I saw a Shiina Ringo thread down there. Here's one of the bands that inspired her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAdLL8SUSbE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4xGjxtQhRw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=511XG_l36bM

imo they were great before they moved to Tokyo... they should have stayed in fukuoka. their last few records never lived up to the early promise pre-y2k.

saw them open for superchunk on a tour of japan pretty late in their career, and they were pretty uninspired.

Really? that sucks (but you have to forgive them b/c they're Number Girl). But wow, how in the world did they end up opening for Superchunk, in their home country? Must have been pretty bizarre. Anyway, I disagree like a mother. I think Sappukei (2000) is a beastly record. SGDA's my favorite (too?), but it wouldn't be as essential if they milked that sound onto another album. Their last record was a mess, but it had some great highlights (Num-ami-dabutz ^^).

Superchunk were/are pretty big in Japan, so I don't think it's all that strange that Number Girl opened up for them. I also saw them on that same tour in 2001 and I thought that they were pretty good.

it was fun to see them reviewed on pitchfork yesterday http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21400-school-girl-distortional-addictsappukeinum-heavymetallic/

this came up in my youtube recs and man

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUYACnZNkvM

i wanna sound like this band

Yessss. That song is a prime example of what made this band unique; it's got a sort of classically 90s indie/emo vibe to it, tuneful & bittersweet, but tweaked with Inazawa's violent drumming and Mukai's scratchy-cold guitar tone. I wonder what Mukai's up to these days? There hasn't been a Zazen Boys record in a minute

Zazen Boys play a lot of gigs in Tokyo.

Check this batshittery out - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8WU-Jx3Ha0

lmao i had no idea about this

... pretty awesome i gotta say

I love this, the last track of their farewell gig, just tearing the arse out of it, wish I could have seen them play just once.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJIYZGs4iJs

XP Whoa. I need to hear more of this. LOL at Mukai's mouth-trumpet sound at 2:58-ish

Skillkills are awesome -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so_Z7gyV9mA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgnhxYSvd10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx4ng7GTwKM

"Omoide In My Head" is by far NG's best song, I've always felt the chorus to "tomei shojo" (the vid brad posted) was kinda weak compared to the verses.

Somehow this slipped through the cracks a month ago:

"I was drunk one day in the beginning of summer 2018, and I thought, I want to 'do it' with them again as NUMBER GIRL at Rising. I also thought, 'I want to make money.' I was drunk."

https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/international/8499146/japan-number-girl-reunion-Rising-Sun-Rock-Festival-2019-Ezo

i'm so hyped

the best rock band of all time

i was just searching for a number girl thread a couple of weeks ago! had no idea they were doing this either, just wondering/hoping there was a thread. have number girl or zazen boys ever toured in north america? def at the top of my "would travel" list but uhh i can't afford to go to japan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfzr161FM7Y

i'm finally watching that video and it's amazing

the thing about this band is that each album is better than the previous yet they're also all perfect