reviews |
 Tokyo Tramps (from the album If I Die Tomorrow available as a self-release)
There is a story to Tokyo Tramps. It is a familiar tale of searchers, youth succumbing to the seduction of a guitar (piano, drum, etc.) and following the sound to find their calling. The spin that Tokyo Tramps put on the roles takes the members back to their native Japan. Band history watches Satoru Nakagawa (guitar) graduate high school and leave Japan in 1990 to discover the origins of Rock’n’Roll, landing in New Orleans and moving to Boston in 1996 to deepen his studies in music. Piano was the first instrument for Yukiko Fujii as age six before she picked up the bass guitar and formed her own band at fourteen, focusing on Rock from the 1970’s and 1980’s. She left a lucrative job in Tokyo when her heart began to beat loud for American music and relocated to Boston, MA. In 1999, the pair of the Japanese born American Roots fanatics formed Tokyo Tramps, snagging the moniker from Springsteen’s “Born to Run”. The backstory leads into If I Die Tomorrow, the recent release from Tokyo Tramps, an album that fits all the musical puzzle pieces the band has collected to form a sound that matches the psychedelia of Blues Rock forefathers Blue Cheer circa 1969. Tokyo Tramps get seduced with a come-on-in groove when they take a seat in “Betty’s Kitchen” as If I Die Tomorrowmeets a “Mystery Man” on a mighty backbeat, creates a current of funk for “Flowing Water”, makes a plea over a smoldering rhythm to “Woman”, and spits out a triphammer beat to ask “Why”. There is a satisfaction in living your dreams and the joy that Tokyo Tramps feel can be heard in every note of If I Die Tomorrow. Highway 61 road signs flash by when Tokyo Tramps add a touch of twang to their Blues in “Blues in My Blood”, trail swamp mist around the snaking hammer-pound beat from “Talkin’ to Someone”, and tap a toe for the front porch Folk optimism of “Winter Always Turns to Spring” as If I Die Tomorrowties mortality to a simmering groove in the title track. Listen and buy the music of Tokyo Tramps from AMAZON http://www.tokyotramps.com/
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
