BURST GIRL, who it should not surprise you at all are a resident favorite here at Homicidols Dot Com, fairly quietly dropped themselves a new song the other day via MV and streamers, and we all had ourselves a nice react in Team chat and even talked about timing it to come on the heels of the ATARASHII GAKKOU post to take advantage of the (measurable and noticeable!) influx of traffic based on that group’s engineered international breakout. Why we didn’t do it yet is, uh, I’m pretty sure my fault, so get the hell out of my face.
“Awesome, new BURST GIRL MV!” went the general refrain through Team chat on Wednesday. Yours truly didn’t have the time or mental space or general wherewithal to do anything with that, not then, but I did know: a) BURST GIRL! and b) I was going to want to do something with it, and even went so far as to make sure that nobody else was working on a piece. And, finally, the day winding down, I tracked down the link and figured I’d give it a spin while I finished up some work.
If I tell you that I promptly got annoyed because stupid YouTube played something else from my queue and not the awesome throat-stomping BURST GIRL song that it was supposed to play, how much of my ass am I showing you?
Did I make that up? I made that up. The year that is 2020 is a lot of things, and one of them definitely is a month-to-month competition to see how much worse the world can get (current trend: holding!), but what I refer to here is simply a narrative device, not an actual contest, unless your take on idol this year as well can be viewed through the same kind of lens. The real bloodbath of graduations was last year, of course, though we’ve had our share. ANYWAY, the point is, title only, not actual thing.
With which I now segue to this weekend’s entry from BURST GIRL from their “story” record, which is … look, I took a few months off, came back, and nothing made sense anymore. I’m not sure of the chronology because at least some of it pre-dates my de-cocooning myself, but if I were only to have heard the “Against the drain” track, I’d be like, oh how neat and cool that BURST GIRL has graduated to melodic easycore or, I dare say, lifting verse material straight from NOFX. HOWEVER, whether it’s because BOSS idol-retired or because Waka’s back and has clothing to sell or even just because it’s 2020, the punk rockin’est of all punk rockin’ idol units has taken on a different character for this release. And Saturday morning has us all seeing this for the first time:
Since we launched The Calendar, the weekly livestream post got discontinued, but I thought there were a few events worth bringing folks attention to now that these notices are no longer hitting the front page. As always, all dates and times listed are Japan Standard Time (JST) unless noted (Convert to your time here).
Kick the weekend off with a free live on YouTube by funk-and-groove flavored Nagoya standouts, FAREWELL MY, L.u.v.
【LIve Info】 8/8（土） 「Sutudio Live 2020.08.08 」 ▶︎15:40より ▶︎視聴無料
BURST GIRL Continue the “BURST BIG BANG” tour to promote their Story EP. This installment sees them teaming up with DAI DAI DAI, Story collaborators THE STARBEMS and others. Streaming tickets are ¥1,800 via ZAIKO.
Every year, enduring songs emerge that collectively define the summer months. They are the infectious tunes that serve as the backing music for the few brief months between school years, or the soundtrack of unforgettable vacations. Summer is often a transitional time of new experiences and transformation. The accompanying music will later inspire nostalgia for a specific point in time when everything changed.
On the verge of an unprecedented summer time, more than ever, we have no idea what the season may bring. Team Homicidols is here to help eliminate the uncertainty in one area at least: filling out your summer playlist.
Homicidols Nominations for Song of the Summer, 2020
Calling the past several months in BURST GIRL land a rollercoaster ride would be undermining it just slightly. Starting with the farewell of original member and Guso Drop refugee Rei, the additions of two fresh-faced young newbies, the sudden loss of one of said newbies and having dozens of shows cancelled for obvious reasons. Despite all this, BURST GIRL have just shrugged it off and kept their stride, announcing a new single, and, last night, a new member.
Well, the term “new” might depend on how loosely you define such a term. You thought BURST GIRL was done employing Guso Drop alumni? Nope! Say hi to Wakapiku! Again!
BURST GIRL have announced the release of a new CD and a collection of collaboration vinyls this coming May. The three-track CD, story, will be released on May, 20th. This will be followed by a limited tour in collaboration with the CD’s songwriters with 7″ vinyl singles of each track available at tour venues and from Disk Union.
Burst Girl will be making their U.S. debut this coming Labor Day weekend as part of Saboten Con 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Monkey Paw Entertainment and Chaotic Harmony are proud to present BURST GIRL at Saboten Con in Phoenix, Arizona. Saboten Con is scheduled to be held September 4-7, 2020. While there, BURST GIRL will perform live in concert, as well as host a Q&A panel, autograph sessions, & more. pic.twitter.com/YT4OY8ULj6
— Chaotic Harmony Imports & Events (@cha0ticharmony) March 3, 2020
In addition to to performing their fist live on American soil, Yura, Rin, Miyak and Roa will be participating in autograph and Q & A sessions and, if history is any judge, perhaps the fashion show and some VIP shenanigans dreamed up by our friends at Chaotic Harmony (like the time a lucky few got to have breakfast and watch Sailor Moon with Candye Syrup and SENANAN ). Bringing chika idol all-stars to the U.S. has become a Labor Day tradition at Saboten Con and it always makes for an unforgettable weekend.
Saboten Con badges are available now. Protip: at past cons you got early VIP access to events (like the concert) if you booked your stay at the con hotel.
Monkey Paw Entertainment and Chaotic Harmony are proud to present BURST GIRL at Saboten Con in Phoenix, Arizona. BURST GIRL will perform live in concert, as well as host a Q&A panel, autograph sessions, and more.https://t.co/r4rbq1TqRUpic.twitter.com/P9tEuekIct
SENANAN has never done anything conventional. When she told us about her marriage and pregnancy she also announced several active projects that she would be stepping away from. Conspicuously absent was any word about the future of her idol unit SUDDENDEATH.
Now that both SENANAN and Osuzu are back from maternity leave, they are reviving SUDDENDEATH, and they’re bringing the kids.
Their first event will be a “Mom Meeting” at the KRY Cafe in January. Children are welcome!! They also announced a resurrection live in March. I’m not sure if the kids have to stay home for that one. Continue reading →
Change sometimes happens with glacial slowness. Sometimes, it comes in waves. Burst Girl apparently prefers change at the pace of a meteor strike. If a die-hard Burst Girl fan was hit by a bus and spent the week in a coma, they would be forgiven for waking up this morning, seeing the new MV and asking, “Who are these purple-clad punks and why does the center’s smile look so familiar?”
Burst Girl’s revolutionary week started last Sunday when it was announced that they would be making their Western debut as part of Italian idol festival Monster of Dolls 2020 line-up.
Who are you? WE ARE BURST GIRL! @burst_girls is our second #InnerCircle guest! Get ready to have your lives rocked and your bones broken, the explosive girls are coming, they want you to come… and they absolutely won't take no for an answer! #MoD2020#爆裂女子pic.twitter.com/IakvWxKluy
Then Monday saw the graduation of Zero-chan. Though I’ve been overusing the phrase this year, this graduation is an end of an era. Rei-chan was an iconic presence in chika idol and it is hard to remember a time when she wasn’t the BOSS, first of Guso Drop and then of Burst Girl. Continue reading →
