Gang Parade

Even When It Rains, It’s a PARADE

/ Cal / Leave a comment

Well, this year’s WACK AUDiTiON CAMP certainly was eventful! Auditionee Waki Waki Wakki got added to WAgg and WAgg member Kira May who’s been apart of the group for 3 months got added to GANG PARADE.

…for all of 3 minutes. GANG PARADE will be splitting into two smaller groups. Just as BiS2 made the decision last year to break up, GANG PARADE will be doing the same thing. But in a completely different manner that’s effectively not the same as breaking up. Totally 100% similar.

This is the culmination of an internal decision between members and staff. In Kamiya Saki’s previous graduation announcement, she revealed that she felt like she was holding GANG PARADE back and while Watanabe, the fans and the members probably don’t agree, it set something new into motion. If you can’t achieve your goals after reaching a certain point, it’s okay to try again from the start isn’t it? So, we’re here now, with two new groups born from GANG PARADE splitting into two.

First new group is the dark and noisy GO TO THE BEDS:

If you need a reference point for previous GANG PARADE works, this wouldn’t go out of place on “LAST GANG PARADE” or “GANG PARADE takes themselves higher!!!” – in fact the guitar in this contains a reference within it’s motif to GANG PARADE (the song). Comprised of Coco Partin Coco, Yui Ga Dockson, Yumeno Yua, Can GP Maika and Yamamachi Miki, this is the group carrying the torch of GP’s mismatched chaos that shouldn’t work but manages to come together perfectly.

The second group is the softer and synergized PARADISES:

Still very much a GANG PARADE product but this ebbs closer to the softer “BARELY LAST” and “LOVE PARADE”. The current members are Tsukino Usagi, Naruhaworld and Terashima Yuka! New girl Kira May will join this group eventually.

If you’ve been keeping up with GANG PARADE activities, this might not come as such a shock. A few weeks prior, a mysterious Guerrilla EP titled “GP?” was on sale for just 100 yen at Tower Records. None of the tracks contained any song metadata but the 6 songs were clearly split into two distinct groups – the first now evident to be GO TO THE BEDS and the second PARADISES but with the since-graduated Haruna Bad Chiiiin. Given her presence on the mystery EP and a few cryptic tweets about life changing before her account vanished into the ether, it’s not hard to imagine this might have been in the works for a while and might be why she left.

And of course, there’s still a loose end here: Kamiya Saki. She’s still scheduled to graduate from GANG PARADE but as it stands, she isn’t in either group and is the only member who’s Twitter handle and promotional images contain any kind of reference to her being a member of GANG PARADE. On top of that, their upcoming “My First Hall Tour” is still being billed as GANG PARADE.

So, what exactly does this mean? How can GANG PARADE be splitting into two groups if their tour is a GANG PARADE tour? Will the two groups promo together like BiS1st and BiS2nd did (also don’t worry, this isn’t league based so nobody is competing against one another) or apart? Will they perform together or as two groups during the tour? Do they know why kids love the taste of cinnamon toast crunch? How is promo going to work if the tour does turn out to be together as GANG PARADE?

Absolutely none of those questions have been answered. BUT, their debut digital singles and EP are coming soon. Tomorrow on streaming services, the songs in the previous music videos will go up on streaming services and on April 1st their debut split EP “G/P”, billed as “GO TO THE BEDS and PARADISES from GANG PARADE” will be released. 7 tracks: three G, three P and one Kamiya Saki solo song.

Just like when BiS2 said “I don’t know what will happen”, nobody does here either. But it’s just not WACK if it isn’t confusing, slightly irritating but also new and exciting. So let’s all go to bed to be able to reach paradise ey.

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A WACK Way to Deal With Cancelled Shows

/ Cal

If you’ve been keeping up with the news, both regular and idol, you’ll probably know that Abe Shinzo issued a countrywide order temporarily banning all large scale public entertainment events because of Novel Coronavirus fears. ZOC cancelled their entire FINAL INNOCENT ZOC tour, Aya Eightprince cancelled a smaller public appearance and Pour Lui cancelled the shooting for her upcoming idol group’s music video to name a few. Things have been cancelled harder than a celebrity who’s angered a kpop fanbase.

Currently, WACK are meant to be embarking on their nationwide WACK FUCKiN’ PARTY tour but alas even Watanabe Junnosuke who has objectively more clout than the prime minister can’t get around a ban on public events.

Just kidding, yes he FUCKiN can!

This Saturday at 6pm JST, the show will go on! NO AUDiENCE LiVE is exactly what it sounds like – nobody is going to be there. You can’t cancel a public event that isn’t a public event. The entire thing is going to be broadcast on Niconico so everyone will be able to be there in spirit. A premium subscription is only around $5USD too, so hey, if you’re spending your time indoors as a health precaution why not spend it with the idol fanbase’s favourite women’s prison colony?

It’s been a rough week for a lot of people on Earth because of the you-know-what, but in a dire time things like entertainment are what make it manageable! So, cast aside your worry, wash your damn hands regularly and enjoy your time at home.

And if you’re in need of a little something extra, BiSH and EMPiRE made a few previously limited broadcasts available on their YouTube channels as a sorry for cancelled shows too.

Remember, while this is a lot of fun content for us overseas, fundamentally it’s a sorry to people living in a country that’s tightening it’s grip attempting to deal with a pandemic, so remember to be respectful! Or if you’re living in a country that’s going through the same thing do what you want, we’re not the reaction police over here.

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When Naruhaworlds Collide – Why Idol Fans Are Excited For Hyadain x GANG PARADE

/ Cal

Happy new year! Japan have already rang in the new decade and with it, a menagerie of new music.

Rock and alternative style idols are no stranger to unexpected collaborations, from BiS and Hijokaidan to You’ll Melt More and… also Hijokaidan. But in this subculture, mainstream breakthroughs are the real sucker punch to longtime fans of girls dancing to alt rock with a crowd of about 30 people.

So, fresh off their major label debut, GANG PARADE have dropped an announcement that their second digital single will be a joint composition between Scrambles’ very own Matsukuma Kenta with a very special guest…

Mastermind behind Momoiro Clover Z: Hyadain! Continue reading →

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Here’s That Kamiya Saki Solo, Finally

/ Kerrie

If you’ve been keeping up with GANG PARADE this year, you might remember around the time Brand New Parade was released that leader and marathon expert of WACK, Kamiya Saki, won a group-wide competition for her own solo song. If you forgot that was a thing, so did Saki herself, apparently!

Anyway, here it is.

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At Least It’s a Very Pretty MV

/ Homicidol Maniac

Official Homicidols Dot Com WACK Correspondent and Dank Meme Strategist Kerrie is temporarily out of action due to technical difficulties, so, in the interests of making sure that somebody said something (crucial!) about the new GANG PARADE MV — from their first truly major-label album — I have stepped into the breach.

Hey neat! A GANG PARADE MV! From their first truly major-label album! Surely there’s no way that WACK’s most consistently unpredictable group would lean into the kind of easy-out balladry that was too often at the heart of their prior iteration just because they’re now on a truly major label!

Oh!

Also this is a hell of a look:

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WACK is…Nice?!

/ chris

We’ll get to the BiS MV in a bit…but first:

Yep, I basically assumed (and perhaps secretly hoped) that when the inevitable next installment came out, it would be “WACK is C-Word”.

But what a twist!

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Everything Is Right in GANG PARADE’s Latest, Which Is Like an April Fools’ Day Prank Unto Itself

/ Homicidol Maniac

I really didn’t want to bury the lede here, though the lede in any other context would have been “dang, who the hell crossed things up and gave that BiS material to GANG PARADE” and kind of sort of a joke that way, too, but in more of a funny one as opposed to feeling more than a little bit punked by this.

What is it? A dang masterpiece, that’s what:

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Atarashii Gakkou No Leaders Leap to the Front of the Class

/ DAEMON

Attention students!! Leaders just dropped the early front-runner for album of the year.

Atarashii Gakkou No Leaders has never been the most accessible of units from a Western perspective. Their MVs often sit behind region blocks and paywalls, while their music makes artsy references to social concerns that may require cultural translation. In short, exploring the group’s music requires a bit more proactive labor than just clicking “play” on YouTube and rockin’ your socks off. However, with the release of their stunning second album, Wakage Ga Itaru, now is the time to put in that extra effort.

（Short Ver.）MV’s are a Crime. REPORTED!!

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This Is Not the Familiar Feeling for GANG PARADE I’m Looking For

/ Homicidol Maniac

There’s a thing in the broader BiS-connected family, apparently, to tease fans by calling things “last” for no clear reason, this turn being GANG PARADE’s to assume the unfortunate title. As we’ve heard so far from one of the weirdest-possible MVs even this weird-embracing website has ever covered, and from a nice run of additional material, GANG PARADE’s LAST album was likely going to follow in the experimental, electronic, whatever-have-you-wave post-pop shut-up-I-can-do-what-I-want footsteps that the group has really made their standard since emerging under their current name and most of the current lineup after, ironically, Barely Last put the POP era completely to bed.

And then they went, you know, what we really need to do is throw all that to the wind and have ourselves a proper BiSH ballad!

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Explaining Your Confused Feelings about the New GANG PARADE MV

/ Kerrie

INT. -WACK HQ, December 2018-

-GANG PARADE are holding their annual joint Christmas/Bad Chiiin’s Bad Birthday bash. The office is decorated in a weird mishmash of Christmas and kid’s birthday party decorations. Kamiya Saki is handing out presents in a Santa costume. Yamamachi’s diminutive frame struggles to hit the pinata that looks suspiciously like Pour Lui. Maika has been knocked out by just 2 cups of mulled wine and SiS are pulling Christmas crackers. The birthday girl sits content atop an office chair decorated with tinsel as she is approached by a familiar yet unnerving man-

Watanabe: Happy birthday-slash-Christmas, Haruna!

Haruna Bad Chiiin: Thanks, Mr. Watanabe! Did you get me anything?

Watanabe: But of course! I’ve bought you the very best gift money can buy!

Haruna: Wowee!! You really got me a Hachimals Mystery Egg!?

Watanabe: Nope! We made a music video for that song you composed!

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