Perhaps the word that defines the Tokyo based all-girls punk band Weird Cats isn’t the word ‘weird’, but the word ‘free’. This band makes no bones about what the goal was when forming their band, it was a goal, in their words, “to do whatever we want.”

 

This type of “do whatever we want” sentiment, is not the anarchist, rage-driven sort of social detachment type that exemplifies other punk bands. Rather, it directly refers to their musical decision making. When you check this band out live, their freedom of musicality and looseness in musical expression is supremely apparent. “Because we are pretty free in our musical style, our goals are pretty free as well. We want to write whatever we want and perform whenever we want,” said the band during their Tokyo Slice interview.

 

Essentially, Weird Cats doesn’t follow any particular formula when they create their music. They borrow the thumping downbeat rhythms of classic hard rock, the shrill symbol crashes of British punk, and at the same time deploys soft, minimalist vocals that add a charm to their music that rounds out the truly fun listening experience that they offer.

 

Frontwomen and guitarist Kanon, usually seen playing a black Gibson SG and wearing Doc Martens, softly murmurs the chorus to their song ‘Bubble Gum’, “You can chew whatever you like. You can chew whatever you want,” as if she could care less what the audience thinks of their music. This is not to say that they don’t want people to be entertained, but they seem to know that one way to entertain a certain type of music lover is to just get on stage and play loud, proud, and with energy. Weird Cats accomplishes this every time we’ve gone out to see them and we suggest that you go out to see them too.

 

Frontwomen Kanon, lead guitarist Mana, and drummer Nanae are close friends from high school where they all were separately cutting their teeth as young musicians. “We didn’t used to be in the same band together, but after we graduated high school, we sent each other messages saying that we wanted to form a band and keep playing music,” the band told Tokyo Slice.

 

As for the bassist Allysa, the band said, “Once we got started, we wanted to have a band member who can speak English. That is how we found Allysa. She never played the bass before, but we really liked her. We don’t choose members based on musical skill. We choose them based on personality. So, we asked Allysa to play bass for us and she learned how to play the bass very quickly.” Allysa is not only a proficient bassist for the band now, but she also translates their lyrics into English so Kanon can sing the lines from the song ‘Rocking Girl’:

 

You’re right! I can never be T-Swift!

I’m sick and out of my mind

Unlike Swift I twist and grind

Know who you’re dealing with okay?

 

Weird Cats is a new band, started just last year in 2016. They find each other weird, and they all love cats, so naturally the band name fits. The band does not perform that often and is still in the process of getting some professional recording out for their fans. That being said, for an up and coming band, we hope music fans will go check them out when they get a chance.

 

“We want to continue or band and play as much as possible,” said Weird Cats in closing, “We cannot live without music.”

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