Ringo Deathstarr is TEH AWESOME!

June 2011

My new Ringo Deathstarr concert shirt. The katakana reads "Shoegaze Monster"

The '80s set the standard for music, in my opinion. The Alternative music scene had matured into something wonderful by the early '90s. I was in high school then, and I'd grown up and ditched listening to Top 40 music. I had discovered the music that fit my personality. 1991 was an incredible year for music. My Bloody Valentine's Loveless was released that year, as well as my all-time favorite band The Ocean Blue's album, Cerulean. Although I admit that at the time, I didn't care for MBV as I had only heard it on an AM radio station, KUKQ 1060AM. It made the beautiful noise just... noisy. It wasn't until over ten years later when I finally discovered this band. I could name lots of great albums that were released in '91, but that same year also saw the release of Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten. At first, I didn't mind these bands too much, but the pendulum of Alternative music had started swinging towards Grunge, and it eventually defeated the direction of the music I loved. The rest of the '90s was a cesspool for music, much as the '70s was. It took many years for that pendulum to swing back and reclaim the glory of great music.

So music from the early '90s is where I find my "happy place." I have very fond memories of listening to KUKQ. There was a girl in high school named Denise whom I had the hots for. With a funny sense of humor, long, strawberry blonde hair, black-rimmed glasses and baggy jeans, she was a nerdy beauty and matched my idea of my ideal girl. Consequently, I had such a huge crush on her! She and I shared a lot in common when it came to music. Together we'd sing lyrics from Jesus & Mary Chain's "Far Gone and Out" or Electronic's "Getting Away With It" and just have fun. She loved They Might Be Giants, I loved New Order. We got along swell. However, my intense teenage desire to make out with her and make her "my girl" severely conflicted with her decision that I was "just a friend," especially since she had a boyfriend who was a complete metalhead type (although at the time, I called all long-haired metalhead types "stoners" regardless of drug use, and I think that pissesd her off). I didn't have the maturity to maintain that friendship, and so eventually that relationship fell apart by my own doing. Oh well; it was a learning experience. So anyhow, what was I saying? Oh yes, so music from the early '90s takes a special place in my heart, and I'd wrapped much of my personality around that. It was around that time I was discovering bands like Catherine Wheel, Lush, and Kitchens of Distinction. There were other bands such as Ride, Swervedriver, The Boo Radleys, Adorable, and Blind Mr. Jones being played on KUKQ too. Later in college I'd gone to see Starflyer 59 play in concert. At the time, I wasn't even aware of the term "Shoegaze" to describe the music. I just knew that I loved the sensation of shimmering waves of guitar distortion washing over me.

Fast-forward to about 2003 when I finally discovered the term "Shoegaze" to describe the music I like. By doing research and making friends with my friend Jon, I was then re-introduced to My Bloody Valentine, and started learning about other bands, such as Slowdive, Pale Saints, Chapterhouse, Secret Shine, and Moose. I started doing a lot of research on other bands, and along with discovering Shoegaze-dedicated radio stations on Live365.com, I started discovering the next generation of Shoegaze bands, dubbed "Nu-Gaze." These consisted of great bands such as The Meeting Places, Airiel, Air Formation, Amusement Parks on Fire, Fleeting Joys, and Tears Run Rings.

I can't remember exactly how I came across the band in my research, but about a year or so ago when I found a band called Ringo Deathstarr, my nerd sense was tingling. I just thought that was the coolest name for a band. The name was so intriguing! It was as if Ben Kenobi was waving his hand at me and saying, "You must know more about this band. This is the band you've been looking for." I searched emusic.com for their music, but I couldn't find any. I found one web blog that had an article on the band, and it provided an MP3 download of their song, "Sweet Girl." I looked elsewhere and I saw where somebody had uploaded some more of their tracks. But I hadn't paid for those tracks, and I'm the type of person who wants physical media and real ownership. Ringo Deathstarr's EP was nowhere to be found. I did find one person selling it, but they were price gouging (I think this was on Amazon Marketplace, where gouging happens quite a lot).

Then earlier this year, I discovered that Ringo Deathstarr's earlier EPs were combined on a single album called Sparkler in Japan, and that their first full-length album, Colour Trip, was also released in Japan, along with some bonus tracks. I found both of these on Amazon Japan, and I had them shipped to my mom-in-law in Japan, who then sent them to me in America.

I couldn't stop playing these CDs! Ringo Deathstarr takes me back to my "happy place" in the early '90s, the years that cemented my musical tastes. The musical tastes that remained unchanged during the Grunge and sloppy dickbrain band years of the '90s, waiting for that pendulum to swing back to the style of music I loved. Ringo Deathstarr's inspirations are unquestionably My Bloody Valentine and Jesus & Mary Chain, so they were an instant love for me. They had all the great makings for the quintessential, classic shoegaze band:

• Beautiful guitar distortion, ranging from the ethereal to aggressive ...check!
• Sexy male and female vocals trading off from one song to the next, often sung at a near-whisper ...check!
• Lyrics that take a backseat to the noisy, atmospheric melodies...check!
• An album cover featuring a picture of a kitty cat ...okay, so maybe not yet, but we may see one yet!

The last time I went to Tucson for a concert was in September of '96, when my friend Roy and I went to go see The Ocean Blue opening for some dumbass band called The Refreshments (a flash-in-the-pan band that was just more '90s music drivel). Roy was in a band at the time called The Blameshares (strange name, purposely misspelled) that was eventually absorbed into a band called Fine China that made some sort of national attention a long while back. It was about six months before my 21st birthday, so I was unable to see my favorite band play. I had to wait outside and I sold my ticket to somebody. The cool thing about that night was that I was able to talk to the band members. I was a rabid fanboy, and I probably annoyed the lead singer, David Schelzel, with all my questions. It turned out to be a great night after all.

So when I got home from work on June 14th, I ate dinner at some Chinese buffet place for a quick dinner. I then somehow got some curry sauce on my pants, so I went home to change. I'd forgotten to get my camera anyway. While brushing my teeth, I dropped a glob of toothpaste on my shirt, so I had to change that too. (I'm so clumsy.) I hoped in vain that I'd filled my "total spaz" quota for the day. I had my MiniDisc that had both Sparkler and Colour Trip copied to it, and listened to that all the way to Tucson.

The concert was playing at a place called Plush, which I found rather easily from the Google map I had printed out at work. I ordered a cup of hot Earl Grey tea and proceeded to burn my mouth on it (which was my final spastic/clumsy incident for the night, and spent the rest of the night drinking cold water). I recognized the band members and suddenly realized that I should've at least tried to learn their names before coming, since although "Hey, you're that pretty girl from Ringo Deathstarr" would've fit my socially awkward nature, it probably would've made me seem more annoying than I usually am. When I got to meet the cast of my favorite TV show, Mystery Science Theater 3000 in Mesa earlier this year, I just tried to be quiet and not be an annoying fan. After I got home though, I thought of all sorts of questions I could have asked them, and I regretted hesitating.

So I worked up my courage to say hi to Elliot, the lead singer, and ask if he and the rest of the band to sign the two Japanese-release CDs of theirs I own. I figured that the chances were extremely small that he'd be some conceited "dick-to-his-own-fans" type like Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins (whom I do not resemble at all, so shut up). Not only was Elliot very approachable, but he was extremely cool to talk with and I ended up talking with him for quite a while! I told him that "Ringo Deathstarr" is the coolest name for a band. I told him that I thought up "Olivia Neutron Bomb" (a twist on Olivia Newton John), and he said he'd also thought of "Penelope Cruise Missile" (an obvious twist on Penelope Cruz). I'd tweeted the band earlier and told them that I'd missed seeing them in Tokyo in April by just a few days, and they actually read it. (I don't use Twitter that often, and I've wondered how often people see the tweets I send them.) So anyhow, they asked me what draws me to Japan and I talked with them about Japan and such, explaining how my wife is Japanese I go there every year to visit family and friends. I showed Alex a picture of my daughter Ulan, and she thought she was real cute. (Well, everybody does.) I found out that their music is available for download at iTunes. I would never have known, since I avoid that service. I don't like their MP4 format, nor their strict DRM policies. I hope they will make their music available on emusic someday, since emusic supports the Indie music scene best.

After the Tohoku Earthquake in March, Elliot said they were concerned that their show in Tokyo would be canceled. Fortunately, they were able to play there, and got acquainted with the Japanese Shoegaze music scene. This is something I've investigated a lot myself, and I've discovered great J-Shoegaze bands such as My Dead Girlfriend, Hartfield, and Burrrn.It was their second time playing in Japan, and they have plans to return there again soon. We talked a lot about Japan itself, and how nice it is that Japan is socially stable its people are able to leave you the hell alone. We talked about the earthquake and the fact that it's says a lot about the country that people were able to remain calm without rioting and that looting was minimal (this was actually committed by young street gang thugs and not a widespread thing like in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina). Heck, Americans get in fist fights at Toys R Us on Black Friday, let alone situations in which they may not be able to provide food and water for their family.

It was great talking with Elliot, Alex, and Daniel from the band, but it seemed that I might have been the only fan who came just to see them that night. There wasn't much of a crowd at all, and I think maybe a lot of them were just random attendees. I didn't care much for the first band, The Discos. Ringo Deathstarr was up next, and they let me record their show! The final act was a band called Follow That Bird. Apparently named after the Sesame Street movie (which makes that a pretty cool name for a band), I kinda liked this band. They only had their music available on vinyl and audio cassette (!), so I didn't buy anything of theirs.

Again, it was a shame that there wasn't much of a turnout for the show. Then again, Tucson is a pretty small city. It's a college town, and this was summer break. Perhaps also a part of this is that a lot of people may be avoiding Tucson due to the dangerous crime rates of South Tucson, plus all the media attention on Tucson being a focused channel for dangerous individuals from Mexico due to the "coyotes" and drug trafficking that goes through the city. Hopefully next time, the band can get a gig in Tempe, AZ where there are more people around.

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Isn't sanity really just a one-trick pony anyway? I mean all you get is one trick, rational thinking, but when you're good and crazy... Oooh, oooh, oooh! The sky is the limit!" ---The Tick