Ironbunny: Shred Metal From the Future Meets J-Pop

I’m not sure exactly how to describe the music of Ironbunny. Imagine a guitarist that can shred and write catchy 80s metal songs – who also performs in an Iron Man-esque suit of futuristic armor that resembles… you guessed it… a bunny. And he gets big names like Warren DeMartini of Ratt to play with him. But fronting his band are three vocalists that sing and rap like a J-Pop vocal group. Throw in some blinking lights on the guitars and outfits and a story about how Ediee Ironbunny traveled back in time from 300 years in the future to save rock and roll from being overrun by electronic music… and you have Ironbunny.

The band doesn’t seem to have a ton of full songs out, but “23 Twenty Three” and “E.I.B.” (above) as well as “Street Strider” are all excellent 80s hair metal tracks – with modern pop vocals. Their 7-song ep (Tettsui No Alternative) and “Street Strider” seem to be about it. Oh, and if you go to the band’s list of YouTube videos – it is full of the singers reviewing classic 80’s hair metal albums. Unfortunately, the last update from the band was nearly two years ago, telling us that one of the vocalists had to leave the band die to hearing damage. I hope that is not the last we hear of this unique group – mixing metal, pop, SciFi, and 80s nostalgia into one enjoyable package.

Wargirl: World Garage Disco Funk from California

I’m not sure how I stumbled upon Wargirl, but I have been listening to them since the beginning. While the three women/three men band might be based in California, they actually travel and play a lot in various countries in Europe and Central America. Their global focus influences their music, to the point that it is a bit hard to describe exactly what they do sound like. They say something like “world music/garage disco/rock” – and that works. It was hard to pick a favorite song to feature in the video at the end of the post as well.There is the slow, groovy coolness of “How You Feel,” the driving bass of “Poison,” the disco boogie of “Little Girl“… the list goes on and on. I decided to go with “Poison” because it seems to capture everything that works well with the band in one song.

Add to that the fact that guitarist Matt Wignall has a long history before this band in photography and video work, so you can always count on a great visual aspect for their videos and albums. I have four albums of theirs on vinyl – their most recent (Dancing Gold) is a good place to start. Or any of the others. The band (like many) was dormant during the pandemic, but we are starting to see more signs of occasional life on their Facebook page.

 

Band-Maiko: Traditional Japanese Instruments Mixed with Scorching Hard Rock

If you look at many of those “so-and-so reacts to some band they have never heard” videos, one of the bands most often brought up in the comments is Band-Maid. Band-Maid is an all-female heavy metal group from Japan that I will probably blog about several times. Songs like “Thrill,” “Dice,” and “The Dragon Cries” are killer heavy metal that would make any jaded 80s metal head a fan. I’m not sure I really get the whole “maid” costume thing, but then again did anyone really get Motley Crue’s or Poison’s stage outfits either?

What I wanted to start out with from this band was apparently an April Fool’s joke, where they announced a new name and style and released a song called “Secret Maiko Lips” as a band called “Band-Maiko.” Maiko is apprentice Geisha. They dressed in more traditional outfits and added several traditional Japanese instruments mixed in. Its a really cool mix of traditional and metal that I could listen to all day.

It seems like many fans liked the sudden change, but it was temporary as they went back to their frantic, heavy hitting metal songs. However, due to the popularity of their side band, they have returned to Band-Maiko to make more songs. So thankfully we haven’t seen the last of this “band.” It seems to my eyes that they are also doing some critique of traditional norms with the visuals in the video. If you look at the translation of the lyrics, they read like a person crying out against a stifling personal situation. But combined with video, they seem to take on multiple meanings.

 

Batzorig Vaanchig & Auļi: Mongolina and Latvian Music Mixed Together

One of the constants of music through the ages is that it often mixes well across cultures – even if you had never thought it would be possible in some cases. One excellent example is Batzorig Vaanchig & Auļi. This collaboration has only produced on e song so far, describes as “throat singing from Mongolia & Bagpipe and Drum music from Latvia.” There is also a horsehead fiddle from Mongolia as well as a Chapman Stick on the Latvia side, but I guess that didn’t really fit well in the description. Also, there are about 5-6 bagpipe players (assuming these are dūdas) and a good 3 or so different types of drummers, so you end up with a very rich and textured sound.

The main band apparently is Auļi: “The Latvian bagpipe and drum music group “Auļi” was founded in 2003. The group that consists of six bagpipers, three drummers and one bass player, creates unique sounds by mixing ancient and modern elements.” They are apparently doing a very interesting project called “Voices of the Ancestors”: “‘Voices of the Ancestors’ is a new concert programme by the drum and bagpipe group Auļi in collaboration with musicians from various countries around the world. Auļi have travelled far and wide to meet singers representing ancient and unusual singing traditions and techniques.”

Batzorig Vaanchig is a well-known and respected Mongolian Throat Singer. He is also the one credited with the lyrics and music for “Hunnu Guren” – the first “Voices of the Ancestors” song. They also created a very sweeping, majestic, and excellent music video for the song:

The Hu – Hunnu Rock From Mongolia

After getting into Tenngar Cavalry, I discovered that Mongolia metal and rock is actually an entire scene and not just one band. There are many different styles mixed in with traditional Mongolia music, from very extreme metal to hard rock. The Hu (sometimes The Hu Band or The HU) is one of the more popular ones, as they were the first Mongolian musical act to top a Billboard chart. They mix hard rock with Morin khuur and Mongolian throat singing. The first song I heard from them was “Wolf Totem”:

It has a slow build up that kicks into a nice groove and very effective mixing  of traditional Mongolian elements with rock. Listening to other singles like “Yuve Yuve Yu” and “The Great Chinggis Khaan“, it seems the band likes to go for driving and/or rollicking hard rock filmed in beautiful locations around Mongolia.

Things have been really taking off for the band: the president of Mongolia congratulated them for their accomplishments in promoting the country. The band toured Europe and North America. They had a song featured in the Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order video game. They released a remix and new video of “Wolf Totem” featuring Papa Roach lead vocalist Jacoby Shaddix. They were awarded the highest state award for Mongolia, the Order of Genghis Khan, for promoting Mongolian culture around the world. All of this with just one album released. Hopefully the future will bring bigger things for the band as well. They have an official website, or you can find them on many streaming services like Spotify. But be sure to check out their epic videos on their YouTube channel as well.

Big Joanie: Black Feminist Punk From London

I don’t remember how I discovered Big Joanie, but I am glad I did. They describe themselves as “like The Ronettes filtered through 80s DIY and 90s riot grrrl, with a sprinkling of dashikis.” If you do searches for “black feminist punk,” they are pretty much the only band that comes up. Hopefully they aren’t the only band in this category, but if they are, I hope they are the first of many.

As you can imagine, the band is also very active in improving their communities:

“Outside of the band all three members have strong community ties, from helping run the festival for punks of colour Decolonise Fest, coaching new talent at Girls Rock London, or launching the ‘Stop Rainbow Racism’ campaign which works to stop racist performances in LGBT venues. Black feminism is at the heart of Big Joanie’s music and actions, and with the release of Sistahs the band hope to spread their message even further.”

My introduction to the band came through their video to “Fall Asleep.” Its an incredibly catchy song that captures their sound well, but I was an instant fan when that keyboard solo comes in. Its not what you expect and I love the unexpected. While you can hear their influences, overall they also don’t sound like anything else in punk or even rock music for that matter. Original music that rocks and has an important message for all of us to take heed? Yes!

Most of their music is available on their BandCamp website, and as you can also see from their Facebook page, they are still very active and going strong.

Negro Terror: Hardcore Street Punk from Memphis

Unfortunately, it seems that I am finding some bands after a member has passed away. I found Negro Terror through another band called 2Minute Minor that featured Omar Higgins on a song:

Negro Terror, the brainchild of bassist and reggae frontman Omar Higgins, is an all American, all hardcore punk group that just happens to be all black. But the music that’s played has no color, just the crimson red of pure aggression.

Omar Higgins passed away in April of this year from a stroke. It sounds like he was a pretty great guy from what I can read online:

Higgins was a beloved figure in the local music community, both for his work on stage and off. In addition to his bands, Higgins was also a church youth leader and praise tam music director, a musical ambassador for Le Bonheur, and an activist on the front lines of anti-racist and anti-fascist efforts in Memphis.

His band certainly was awesome. Just listen to what is probably their most well-known tune below. While they are playing some killer skate/street punk, Omar and company seem to infuse it with a fresh take that is much needed in this musical genre. I was a thrasher in the 80s, and I can without a doubt say that Negro Terror would have ruled the day in the 80s skate punk scene. You can hear their songs on BandCamp, or go watch a documentary on Amazon Prime (I just found out about it, so I will watch as soon as I can). Negro Terror had finished a full-length album called Paranoia, but I am not sure if it will still be released or not.

“Coming up playing this music, people looked at me funny. They’d say, ‘That’s white-boy music.’ But music doesn’t have a color,” said Higgins. “And it’s not about being an ‘all black’ punk band either. The whole idea is for young African American kids to feel comfortable doing whatever it is they want musically. [Negro Terror] is about destroying those old ideas.”

Tengger Cavalry: Nomadic Folk Metal from Mongolia

I read a music discussion online about different combinations of things that people mix with metal. Someone made a joke about how you never hear about “Nomadic Folk Metal” and thought: there has to be someone. Turns out there are many nomadic folk bands. Probably one of the more well known ones is Tengger Cavalry. They blend a bit of an epic nomadic horseback vibe in their metal with traditional Mongolian elements like Tuvan throat singing for some vocals and instruments like morin khuur. They also speed up things to incorporate elements of death metal-ish vocals as well – its really an interesting mix.

My favorite songs are the ones like “Cavalry in Thousands” below that mix the throat singing, metal instruments, Mongolian instruments, and a slower epic nomadic vibe. There are many other Mongolian nomadic metal bands out there with different mixes of traditional instruments, metal styles, and vocals styles that I will be covering in the future. Unfortunately the lead singer of Tengger Cavalry – Nature Ganganbaigal – passed away this year. You can find a lot of their music on BandCamp, or follow the future of the band on their Facebook page.

Bloodywood: Street Metal / Rap with Traditional Instruments from India

Bloodywood is a “street metal” band from India that mixes modern metal riffs, rap + screamed + sung vocals, and various traditional Indian instruments (especially the dhol, ektara, and Indian style flute). Karan Katiyar and Jayant Bhadula started the band by recording covers of various pop songs, but then morphed into a band that does originals. The metamorphosis seemed to occur after they released “Ari Ari,” which is technically a cover of the Punjabi folk song “Baari Barsi” that is about fighting for unity (“despite all our differences, we are one”). I say “technically” because about 70%+ of their version of the song is original to the band – the riffs, the rap vocals, the way the various instruments play together, etc. But after this song, it seems that they started doing all original songs.

The video to “Ari Ari” is also an excellent place to start with the band, as it mixes in scenes from the streets of India with a local Indian dance group (Master Academy of Dance) they found that was able to come up with some great choreography for the song. Note that the rapper Raoul Kerr was not a part of the band at this time, but a guest on this song. He worked out so well in the mix that he is a member of the band now. Their new songs are awesome as well, and I will probably write about them here in the future. Follow them on Facebook or YouTube, and for now enjoy the awesomeness that is “Ari Ari” (FYI there is some language in here in case you are listening at work):

Voice of Baceprot: Hijab-Core Funk Rap Metal from Indonesia

Voice of Baceprot (also abbreviated as VoB, meaning “noisy” in Sundanese) is a metal / rap / funk band from Indonesia, often referred to as Hijab-Core because all three members are teenagers that wear Hijab head coverings. Their lyrics are mostly in Sundanese (their native language), with a few lines of English as well.

In addition to breaking all of those molds, the really amazing fact about this band is that they had not even heard of heavy metal music until their school teacher introduced it to them fairly recently. They loved it and started learning instruments.

As you can see from the video, they didn’t just learn their instruments… they dominated them. That is some serious power behind how they play all of their instruments. Lest you think this is just a gimmick or trick of the camera, they can also pull off their impressive skills live as well:

I don’t totally know what exactly they are singing / rapping about, but it appears to be they are talking about equality and social issues, which is a brave thing to do seeing they are children of farmers from conservative Muslim rural areas Indonesia.

But for those of that grew up on 80s heavy metal, which got a bit stale and repetitive every time a new sub-genre hit it big, bands like VoB are a breath of fresh air. Metal didn’t die here in the U.S., of course, but interesting to see it being kept alive (and totally shredding) by teenagers on the other side of the world. They have a Facebook page that seems to be the best place to keep up with their new music (they only have a few songs so far – looking forward to more).