I’ve got to be honest, I’m pretty confused with this turn of events. TEAM SHACHI is an idol group from Nagoya that’s considered a sister group of Momoiro Clover Z. They’ve been active since 2011 on Unborde, the same label Capsule, and Tofubeats among many others release on. They’ve seen a couple of members depart the group but it’s mostly been the same team since the start. However, this summer TEAM SHACHI is teaming up with guitarist Hidaka from The Starbems and Bunta from Total Fat to form a reimagined TEAM SHACHI. For their ‘first’ single, they’ve also enlisted a six-piece brass band and put out a ska-punk tune titled ‘Rock Away’.
The six piece brass band in this video are all wearing masks and seifuku, not to mention having stylish haircuts to boot. I’m not sure whether these girls in the video are the actual brass band who laid down the instrumentals or are there for effect. The song itself was written by their new guitarist Hidaka who, along with drummer Bunta, looks a little out of place in this video. Can’t put my finger on it but something differentiates themselves from the rest of TEAM SHACHI. This PV is worth a watch only if to see these contrasting elements all come together in a kitschy way. It’s a bit of a novelty if we’re being honest.
That said, ‘Rock Away’ is actually a pretty fun track. There’s definitely a lot of guitar-based idol music out there, but you can kind of tell this music was actually written by people who make rock and punk music primarily and not idol producers. Of course, the undeniable ska element is the key factor that’s setting this track apart. It’s not like Japan’s never had ska music, and even recently we’ve seen a young SOLEIL put those sounds to work. I’m hoping Japanese idols are the ones to finally bring about that fourth wave of ska we’ve all been waiting for. Lead the way TEAM SHACHI.
The newly reimagined TEAM SHACHI has more music coming down the pipeline, but no release dates announced.