Japanese Jukebox: Sendai Kamotsu – Costumed Rockers Push Bizarre

It’s October. It’s time to get out your costumes, smile and have fun. It’s also an excellent reason to highlight extreme visual kei band Sendai Kamotsu. VAPMusic was kind enough to upload a bunch of old Sendai Kamotsu videos to share the love of this crazy WTF band.

Slap your ass to this. “Fukyo no Kaze” is a riotus song off the 2009 album Deko that you should rock out by spinning a towel over your head. Just looking at each guy’s appearance you can kind of tell they don’t really take things seriously. The lead singer Chiba wears crazy clown make-up. One guitarist is demonic with wild hair and lip piercings while the other guitarist is a more pretty boy glasses type . The bassist rocks a fu Manchu beard, the drummer wears stuffed animal thingies on his head, and the master manipulator is sometimes dressed as a ninja.

This is like a bizarre side project where they are a lot more open and playful.

Actually, the group Sendai Kamotsu consists of the same band members of dark visual kei band “Nightmare.” This is like a bizarre side project where they are a lot more open and playful. The video for “Fukyo no Kaze” actually plays out the news of their company going bankrupt and the notion of hiring a new lead singer.

“Zekkomon” explores feudal Japan, and the guys alter their appearance slightly to reflect the times of the video. You get more ninjas, Kabuki red hair and make-up, basket cases and of course a panda head. By now you should realize the lead singer might swing both ways, and this is the second time we see the infamous “Kancho” move where both hands clasp and the index fingers form a point for thrusting up the behind of an unsuspecting friend or foe. Yes, painfully funny, Sendai Kamotsu take a liberal approach to their historical video and bring out modern firearms just to kick things up a notch.

And who is to stop Sendai Kamotsu for kicking it up one more notch?

Wanna see the lead singer fellaciate a carrot? Of course you do. “Umanami de” has all the boys in the band playing with their carrots. These guys aren’t very subtle this time around, but their music is infectious and always contains a few great guitar licks. “Umanami de” is probably the poppier of the three tracks off Deko, but all of them should get you shouting or singing along.

These guys aren’t very subtle this time around, but their music is infectious and always contains a few great guitar licks.

Should you want more Sendai Kamotsu, VAPMusic has 2 more videos for you over at their youtube page. Sendai Kamotsu also reformed in 2011 and released a Japan digital single recently in August entitled “HERO.”