Lots of new stuff this week, friends, so much that it’s going to trickle over into next week at least because I’ll be hot gosh-darned if I’m going to do multiple introductions in a single day.

Today’s little discovery? Meet Wonder Lander (Twitter) (Soundcloud!). I’m bringing them into the mix because it’s nice sometimes to have some mom-approved rock songs done by chic idols, sort of like if you had uijin tone it down a little.

Having literally never once heard of them before, and seeing their very low number of Twitter followers (for idols, at least), had me convinced that they fresh out of the box, but they’ve been in some form of existence for a year (with a reboot in September), and they’re in the milieu with the likes of Honey Squash and Dots and stuff, so in a different performance cluster than we’re used to seeing. They also at least look older than normal, though it could just be the clothes.

This track on their Bandcamp(!) page is a good example of their work; “aozora” is a very nice rock ballad of the type that idols are especially well-suited for.

Their thing, as described on said Bandcamp page, is to be kind of genre-less, which is a great thing, especially when it leads to things like their pulling a move from Negicco’s playbook:

Google’s translation calls them a “phantasmagoric performance group,” which is great.

I do want to point out something, and it’s the kind of thing to take to heart for just about anybody kick-starting a music project: There are lots and lots of completely free ways to get your stuff out into the public eye, so you should use them, and then you should use the fact that you have your music out there and freely available to promote the crap out of that stuff. Eliminate barriers to entry; invite people to walk through open doors (and then try to sell them stuff on the way out, because lunch ain’t free, muchachos).

Anyway, I’ve enjoyed them, and I like what they’re about, and maybe you will, too.