Otoboke Beaver at the Sinclair, 10/3/22
“I hate you,” Otoboke Beaver lead vocalist Accorinrin’s voice pierced the air wryly, one pink-sandaled foot hefted on the amp, for fan favorite song “datsu . hikage no onna.” Beneath her spell, Hiro-chan’s bass bumped up and down chords frantically like a bee in a jar, threatening any moment to lose control. With equal agility, drummer Kahokiss pummeled the drumset, while guitarist Yoyoyoshie’s strums bounced off her face in ecstatic laughter. “I hate you!” I screamed back with the crowd, never so inversely.
Hailing from Kyoto, Japan, Otoboke Beaver’s roots are a long way from Massachuscetts. Born in Kyoto university’s music club, the four piece punk band has been in operation since 2009, though it was 2019’s LP Iketoma Hits that shot Beaver into international acclaim. I was one of those late listeners, stumbling on Iketoma Hits through a youtube video, and instantly gripped by the cornucopia of energy contained in every 1-2 minute song and humorous titles to pair, my favorite being, “you’re no hero shut up fuck you man-whore.”
Live, the band retained their relentless pace, pouncing from song to song with seemingly supernatural energy. They kicked off with new LP Super Champon’s “Yakitori”—a tongue-in-cheek pander to Japanese people who criticized them for westernizing their music for fame. The punchy beat and snappy chorus set the crowd moving instantly. From there, Otoboke Beaver moved through a string of songs from Iketoma Hits and Super Champon, my highlight being “S’il Vous Plait'' for its impeccable guitar line.
Despite the majority of their lyrics being in Japanese, Beaver’s chanted lyrics easily invited the audience to join in. The atmosphere was euphoric and rowdy, with a near constant mosh pit center stage, composed of a surprising number of grizzled men. Lost in the movement, a shoulder loosed blood from my laughing mouth. Hands fluttered under Accorinrin as she swung a middle finger slowly over the crowd, intense and unfazed as a deity. At one point, Yoyoyoshie even leapt into the waving crowd and let them carry her.
Perhaps the high of the night was reached in “PARDON?” where Beaver and the crowd chanted “I don’t know what you mean!” over and over until the beat doubled over into refrains of “shut up!”—a parody of the language barrier between the band and their global audience, the two joyfully in on the joke here.
To wrap up the night, Beaver played two encores, both under 30 seconds—gasps of pure noise. Leaving the venue, drenched in sweat, my crowd-surfing virginity taken, one image stood out in my mind—Yoyoyoshie clamping the neck of her guitar between her teeth and shredding it with both hands in a show of technical virtuosity. Who would’ve thought? No, it’s not a stunt you think of. But, in the grip of sheer playing joy you might want to bite down on the music… like a champon but super, flavor exploding from every bite…
