Photo of Otoboke Beaver by Bryan J. Sutter
March and April tend to be one of the more exciting months for touring music for St. Louis. The weather becomes more hospitable for travel and, in the past, many bands have played memorable shows here seemingly just because it made sense in their touring en route to or after SXSW or Coachella. While SXSW has waned in importance, it’s not uncommon to see a few shows on venue schedules that will have you doing the frown smile like Silvio Dante during this time of year. Between Delmar Hall and its sister venue The Pageant, they have quite a few, but Otoboke Beaver with Drinking Boys and Girls Choir was the one that made me go dang.
Bruiser Queen are arguably the longest running garage pop outfit in St. Louis playing today. This duo has performed numerous shows across town and the country for over a decade, and are an easy choice to open up for Otoboke Beaver. Vocalist/guitarist Morgan Nusbaum’s voice is as impressive and as emotive as when I first heard her in 2010, and she has never been a slouch when it comes to writing the sort of melodies that get stuck in your head while Jason Potter has a tasteful approach to drumming that is neither too simple nor too fancy. Ten years ago, there were probably a local dozen bands that would have incessantly bugged the fuck out of the promoter to get on a show like this, but those bands have either diecded to really take drinking Stag seriously like it were a full time hobby or they graduated from Wash U and immediately snagged their dream job with a defense contractor. Bruiser Queen has the integrity to give you the jams you deserve, and they always deliver.
Drinking Boys and Girls Choir were a treat. This skate punk trio from Korea had no trouble winning over the packed room at Delmar Hall. I have found that in most recent Korean indie music I’ve listened to, regardless of genre, that there’s a certain element of polish that is not as common in indie music from Western countries, either in production or performance. The juxtaposition of 90s punk with strong vocal melodies and harmonizations was refreshing. Halfway through their set the trio brought on two young girls from the crowd to sing along for a brief song. While it was a quick moment, it was very sweet. Later on, singer/bassist Meena Bae spoke to the crowd. Her English wasn’t terrible, but it was a little hard for me to follow. The gist was asking for a better, more inclusive world, one without discrimination. Far from a bad thought, and a worthwhile sentiment that no one worth knowing would ever disagree with, it got a big pop from the crowd.
I was a bit bummed that Otoboke Beaver’sUS tour last year skipped St. Louis, and found myself incredibly jealous seeing videos and photos from that tour on social media. I was, put simply, stoked to cover this one. The Japanese punk quartet has experienced quite a bit of love from the American music press, and their unique mixture of poppy punk with a dash of hardcore and Jpop has found fandom with such notable names as Dave Ghorl and Internet tastemaker Anthony Fantano. Otoboke Beaver even had a moment during the early days of the pandemic with the insanely kinetic music video for their song “Don’t Light my Fire” which, honestly, might be the thing that has pushed them the furthest before the releasing their second album Super Champon in 2022.
Otoboke Beaver took the stage to “Wake Me Up” by Evanescence which was a curious choice. You could say that this was just one more way in which these ladies play with expectations. Drummer Khaokiss then ripped into “YAKITORI,” an incredibly fun song about putting the titular Japanese chicken item into the mailbox of someone despised. A direct translation of the lyrics maybe doesn’t do the song justice, but it’s not too far off from being the sort of surreal yet amusing tune that could have been found on a Lumpy and the Dumpers tape back in the day. Which is to say, I love it.
“Don’t Light My Fire” is where I felt like the band and the crowd started to sync up. The breakneck energy displayed on stage was, at first, a bit overwhelming. Vocalist Accorinrin acts both like an idol and a city street tough, posing during songs but speaks like a heel joshi wrestler when addressing the room. Guitarist Yoyoyoshie is perhaps the most kinetic of the group, strumming and singing like she’s experiencing the world’s most euphoric sugar high. It is hard to not draw comparisons to Animal from the Muppets when watching Khaokiss behind the drum set, and in her less animated moments it was not uncommon to catch her with a big smile on her face. If any member of Otoboke Beaver could be described as stoic, it might be bassist Hirochan. Not that she didn’t match her bandmates’ energy at times, but I noticed she often looked like she was somewhere between vibing out and concentrating. I found it easiest to just let my ADD addled brain follow whomever drew my attention, and I was never bored.
Accorinrin mentioned, at one point, that they’re not popular in their home country of Japan. Admittedly, I could see why they might be more popular with Westerners. Sometimes, it’s not very interesting to have your own viewpoint or culture reflected back at you. Their look and presentation eschews a lot of American punk tropes. While I could draw a line from Otoboke Beaver to The Coathangers or Priests, they aren’t a bunch of white guys that look like they stepped into the machine from The Fly with a used oil filter. Lyrically, there are themes that are culturally very Japanese, but others that are much more universal. As much as we’d like to think otherwise, America does not have the global market cornered when it comes to weird and outdated conservative hang ups on work or women. Maybe they’re too familiar back home, but on stage here at Delmar Hall Otoboke Beaver are incredibly captivating.
The night climaxed with Yoyoyoshie tossing a big beaver pool float into the crowd, which she then stood on for as long as those holding up the float and her own balance could muster. Otoboke Beaver then invited out Drinking Girls and Boys Choir as well as Bruiser Queen on stage for a group photo with the crowd, a mainstay of their Instagram page.
It should be noted that the crowd was very diverse. It very much looked like a crowd I would expect at a show like this in St. Louis but there was a very wide age range, and perhaps the most Asian folks I’ve ever seen at a show here. Not surprising, perhaps, given our notable Asian community and that we have a couple of colleges that attract more than a few international students. I was, at one point, standing next to a group of college-aged Asian kids that were dressed like they were going to a nice dinner in the Central West End and they were having an absolute blast. It was very cool to see folks who have maybe never been to a show like this enjoying themselves. There was no gatekeeping or scene bullshit, just this moment in time we shared together. Ain’t music great? | Bryan J. Sutter
