Self-styled space surf rockers Japanese Television launched 2020 with a release of EP1 and EP 2 with their Marc Riley BBC 6 Music session, and celebrated with a UK headline tour, which stopped at The Lanes in Bristol for a free show in early Feb. Space surf rock is a good description, although the band do more than bring Dick Dale into the digital age, building compelling tunes on driving bass and drum hooks washed in synth and guitar sounds. Bathed in the purplish hues of the stage lighting, the band create a near-mystical sonic journey, breaking out occasionally into slower sections that give a sense of arrival in an expansive new space, like a plane reaching its intended altitude as it breaks through the clouds.
Check out ‘Surfing Saucers’ from EP1 on Youtube: