Peelander-Z

Peelander-Z will probably outlast the five minutes a band typically gets in Japan before the next pop star is churned out for mass consumption. This band doesn’t just put on a show — it sets up a goddamned 12-ring circus. Musically, the band executes a playful style of punk rock that sounds like a less-serious Ramones, say, if someone like Weird Al had fronted the Ramones instead of Joey (and if Weird Al spoke Japanese). But the most delicious part of a Peelander-Z show is the performance. Sporting a variety of tight, brightly colored, distorted manga costumes that could only have come from Japan, Peelanders Yellow, Blue and Red rock their dragonballs off as they set up human bowling and attack each other with kung-fu moves. And that’s just the first song.