Japanese Motors inhabits that mythical Gotham of our rock fan imagination; of tuff boys and tuffer girls, of leather jackets and tight denim and “I Heart NYC” tees, of Lou Reed and Debbie Harry and Richard Hell.
Vice Records
Japanese Motors: ST
Japanese Motors Bring Retro Rock to Chicago
Sometimes hype can be destructive. Despite the fact that the indie-rock band Japanese Motors’ self-titled debut album is a mediocre-at-best attempt to hipsterize yet another mid-century retro sound, despite that this band has been pushed so hard by the golden ticket of coolness VICE Records that the influence toward irritation even before hearing the band is inevitable, despite lead singer Al Knost’s attempt to create a West Coast Julian Casablancas (the original retro hipsterizer), despite a half-empty room of uninterested stares at the Empty Bottle — despite all this, this band actually kills it live.