Japanese Shoegaze bands and cultural reappropriation

I’ve always been fascinated by acculturation, cultural appropriation, and reappropriation. It’s a contentious issue in rock n’ roll, whether it’s Paul Simon “discovering” South African township music, or Taylor Swift “rapping” in the antiseptic-Gap-commercial “hip hop” video for “Shake it Off.” I’m sure that the phenomenon goes back to the inception of song itself, and it has been present in rock and roll at least as far back as Elvis Presley. It’s done poorly and disrespectfully all the time. Ink and blood are spilled over the matter.

But there’s also something in it that speaks to the capacity of music to empower and influence across cultural barriers. The extraordinary thing about culture is that while its trappings, behaviors, and practices can be “stolen,” the culture itself is ultimately not diminished. There’s nothing quite like the frisson of discovery one experiences upon finding there’s a vibrant Taiwanese rockabilly scene, or the thrill in excavating the varieties of Filipino rap. While some might regard these as mere cultural curios, I find it astonishing that people around the world love similar music and make it their own. More astonishing still, is how fucking good so much of it is.

Speaking of reappropriation, shoegaze (something we here at Overblown have been a bit obsessed with of late), got its name by embracing the very terms critics used to disparage the genre. Initially mocked because the musicians performed standing still in a detached, introspective manner, the genre-forming bands took the term and ran with it, eventually achieving their deserved critical acclaim. In their defense, they weren’t just standing about, they were looking at their effects pedals. Shoegaze was also called “The Scene That Celebrates Itself,” a contemptuous dismissal of the fact that the assorted bands were all friends with one another, as though rivalry were a prerequisite for rock authenticity.

For reasons worthy of investigation in a graduate thesis, My Bloody Valentine was preposterously influential in Japan. Two years ago, a bunch of bands from the land of the rising sun put together a tribute album called Yellow Loveless, covering the seminal 1991 album. Stumbling upon this fact has led me to explore some of these groups, and I’ve been thoroughly impressed. And so, in the spirit of that cross-cultural influence and collaboration, I’ve decided to compile a list of ten Japanese shoegaze bands I’ve recently been putting on repeat. Enjoy.