Japanese punk or Kaiju Power Rangers?

The weird sub-genre of playful children’s punk is one that is relatively unexplored. In fact, some might argue it’s completely inhabited by only the Aquabats, being a ska punk band with their own children’s show. Now imagine, if the Aquabats were Japanese and even more playful. Well, look no further than Peelander-Z. 

Peelander-Z is not your average punk band. In terms of genre structure, Peelander-Z has more in common with the Power Rangers than it does Black Flag, as their band bills themselves as comic book punk hailing from the Planet Peelander. What the Japanese crew has in their punk bones is power chords — a whole lot of power chords. And as fast as those power chords get, the lyrics still shout some strange repetition of the track titles. At least this is what is on display in their newest record Go Pz Go.

That is the main issue with Go Pz Go: so many tracks, “UFO”, “H.I.P.P.O” and “Bike Bike Bike” for example, really hammer down the track titles within their lyrics, with constant repetition that borders on annoyance. Sure it is intentional, in the Yo Gabba Gabba children’s show sense, but just don’t expect something serious within this release, because it surely is not going to take itself seriously.

Instrumentally though, there are tracks that do differentiate. The bass guitar on tracks like “Mix Mix Mix” and “I’m Not Singer” is almost Flea-like. You can feel his harsh slap technique as the singer does his shtick of proclaiming one million times the fact that yes, he is in fact not a singer. “Beaver Fever” and “Free Three Bees” also have fun instrumental portions. “Beaver Fever” for instance uses an electronic piano portion that almost sounds 8-bit in nature and “Free Three Bees” has an outlying bridge with a catchy guitar solo that climaxes with a fast-paced rush at the end of the track.

Yes, this punk is hokie, but if it was funny or meaningful, it might not be an issue. But Peelander-Z’s newest release is rather simple lyrically, without breaking any barriers or even making the listener laugh at their quirkiness. But if you take a deeper look, this isn’t their intention. Go Pz Go isn’t trying to be anything it’s not— it’s very self-aware of its simplicity and Saturday morning cartoon-yness.