Tweet

It’s time once again for the Top 3 Indies Artist Video Countdown. Today is a SPECIAL WEEKDAY EDITION of the Top 3 best Indies and Alternative Music artists for the week of August 3, 2017! Why is it a special edition? Well, it’s summer and it’s hot, so why not?

First up is a brand new band from San Francisco introduced to us by Alex Kish of Wassup Rocker Radio Fame! It’s the Shanghais! The Shanghais bio says: “The Shanghais are a switchblade-sharp four-piece San Francisco rock ‘n roll gang. Power pop vocals and busting garage chords summon the sounds of The Shangri-Las and Timi Yuro. Don’t be deceived, these girls and guy are a tough clique. Stripping down rock ‘n roll to its most primitive recipe and coating it with sugary-sweet vocals will snatch you and keep you hooked. So get your ticket because the train’s leaving the station. Next stop: Shanghai.”

Bwa! Ha! Ha! Of course, they have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TheShanghais/

#3) The Shanghais – Sick Of You  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60u8Ux8FikI

Next up, at #2 is a band that describes their music as “Punk 77!” It’s the Twinkles. Their bio states: “The Twinkles is a nice melodic ’77 punk band from Castelfranco Veneto, Italy. Behind the lyrics and the music is the frontman Nick Mess who keeps the image and the style of the ’77 still alive. A lot of fans know already pretty well their songs after many successful gigs all over Europe. So there is just no way to listen to their songs influenced by the tunes of The Ramones and The Boys and not to love them!”

Today’s track is their brand new single, “C’est La Vie” and it just came out! It’s hot off the presses! These guys remind me of Olga and the Toy Dolls and that’s a good thing! This is the summer song to sing along with! Here’s their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/thetwinkles/

#2) The Twinkles – C’est La Vie  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRfwBfhMQHY

And at this week’s number one is an artist that we just started playing on our Sunday FM radio show WTF? on InterFM 897 and they are a, are you sitting down? A dad and daughter group from Long Beach, California named Daisy House! Daisy House features daughter Tatiana Hammond on vocals and her father, Douglas Charles Hammond on everything else. Their new album, “Crossroads” just came out to absolutely rave reviews (check it here: https://daisyhouse.bandcamp.com/)

Big fan, Crystal writes: “(Crossroads is) An absolute masterpiece. Albion and My Death Is Coming For Me are just stunning. Just when I think I can’t possibly enjoy your music more, you go ahead and prove me wrong.” It really is. This band is killer. Today’s song just might be up for Song of the Year! Check and then tell me how brilliant this is!

Yep. Here’s their Facebook, go like it: https://www.facebook.com/daisyhouseband/

#1) Daisy House – Languages    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg15v-kf9nU

Spotlight Artist! Thee 50’s Highteens – Surprise Sun Today’s spotlight is a band that was recommended to the countdown by The Routes guitarist and vocalist, Christopher Jack! It’s a Japanese girl’s band that, unfortunately, has broken up… But the lead vocalist and guitarist, Tomo, is still making music and I hope to have something by her soon.

The band’s name is Thee 50’s Highteens. They were a pioneering Japanese girls band. Their bio says, Thee 50s Highteens were a screaming girls garage band that formed in 1998 in Fukuoka (Fukuoka is Japan’s southernmost large island). They were known for playing Garage Punk, Rock n Roll and “screaming violently with passion!” And, I quote, “That staging totally catfighted!”  They released their 1st album in September 2003 and toured Europe in November 2005. Their second album, “PUNCH DE BEAT” was released in December of 2006. In September 2008, they toured America. After that, they moved to Tokyo in February 2009 but the band dissolved in 2010.

Too bad. I loved this band. They still have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/thee50shighteens/

Check this out, gang, you will dig this!

Spotlight Artist! Thee 50’s Highteens – Surprise Sun   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i6GMofpXB4

Cool, eh? And speaking of Ken Nishikawa. Ken and I (with a little help from our friends) made the feature film: Ghostroads – A Japanese Rock n Roll Ghost Story. It hits theaters in Japan on Sept. 30, 2017. The Japanese trailer just came out! (It has English subtitles!) Check it! Oh, and we have a really cool webpage: http://ghostroads.jp/

That’s all for today! See you next week when we return to the Top 3 Indies Artist Videos Countdown. See ya! – Mike in Tokyo Rogers