“It seems almost inconceivable to dislike CHAI. Coming up in their native Japan via a SXSW Asia audition; signing to the savvy Burger Records shortly thereafter; dismantling the reductive super-cuteness of kawaii for their own positive ends via their charmingly choreographed videos — their story seems worlds away from the kind of slick, corporatized J-pop that is sadly often the only exposure casua”
“CHAI dazzle us on aptly-named new album, PUNK”
“The Japanese quartet devote their second album to enthusiastic, maximalist pop with a bluntly feminist message.”
“Revolutionary garage-pop four-piece CHAI are, without doubt, Japan’s far more enlightened, far more musically polished answer to Bikini Kill. Kick the shrill, abrasive vocals of ’90s riot grrrl to the curb, add a lot of hyperactive J-pop, and you’ve got CHAI. The band’s first proper album, ‘PUNK’, is a melodic yet pointed attack on all things patriarchal and, uniquely, all things connected to Japa”
