Water Rats , London. Melody Maker. 10 November 2000
Dublin Castle, Camden, London. Ceefax Review. 12 March 1999
Red Eye, lslington, London. NME Review. 20 March 1999
Water Rats, London. Melody Maker Review. 10 July 1999
Pandamonium. London. Music365 Review. 30 July 1999
Pandamonium II. Bull & Gate, Kentish Town. London NME Review. 7 August 1999
Pandamonium II. Bull & Gate, London. Melody Maker Review. 14 August 1999
Dark Star Audio-Gig Reviews Dublin Castle, London - 19 August 1999
Interview. Exposure London-Tokyo Magazine 26 August 1999

 

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Dublin Castle, Camden. London Britpop's bitten the dust, Krautrock has crumbled - now brace yourselves for Japa-noise. To the majority of the uneducated, a taste of the Orient involves a trip to an East-end takeaway, but the wind of change is about to blow away the cobwebs in the shape of Kaori and Yumi. The two girls take to the stage sharing a nervous giggle - well aware that the crowd has quadrupled since their first visit here four weeks earlier then, after a quick tune-up and a couple of reassuring glances, it's down to business. And, boy, do they mean business, ripping through a lightning set of no-holds barred, unadulterated punk-pop which has the thronging masses dropping the cool act for half an hour to whistle their approval and bay for more. Frontwoman Kaori shows Cerys how to really roll your R's in the 'brrrr-eka, brrrr-eka' chorus of Stupid (the rest of the song titles are anyone's guess), but it's noticeable that though they sing, shout and scream in English, the between-song banter proves more of a task and they settle instead for mile-wide smiles straight out of the Dwight Yorke charm school. Comparisons with Shampoo are inevitable, but Yumi Yumi are in a different class. Although the songs are basic, Kaori's a real star on the guitar, Yumi handles the bass like a veteran and Bob the teddy bear is a match for anyone on the drum machine. When the last chord has been struck, they politely shuffle off before disappearing under a hail of backslaps and handshakes. The future's bright, the future's Yumi. Chris Charles

 

Red Eye, lslington . London Christ. Just when you thought it was finally safe to crawl out of the public house, a band like Yumi Yumi skip along and deftly steal your cola cubes. They number three: over there is Kaori, who sings and plays guitar, over there is Yumi, who plays bass and sings: and there is Tom. Tom is a teddy bear. Part of this stoical fellow's task, it is surmised, is to take care of the girl's drum machine. Which he happens to do very well. And that, to all intents and purposes, is it. In a pre-millenial world where pop has gone postmodern crazy, Yumi Yumi are simply two Japanese girls playing their third gig armed with little more than a clutch of trashy punk-rock sensibilities. Fair play, too - after all, we did give Japan Shampoo. Now we could have the good grace to give Kaori back her personalised guitar - it was stolen from her bedsit the previous day, leaving her to rely upon a heavy heart and borrowed guitar. Not that Kaori seems too afflicted with grief - few people could when confronted by Yumi Yumi's reckless combination of twangin' riffs and quaintly electronic rythems. Chuck in Kaori's somewhat quixotic vocal style and a handful of rattle-alongs with names like "Stranger" and "Stupid" and -do-be-dooo! - you too will be carefully suspending your sense of belief from the nearest bar and those are the bear facts. Simon Williams

 

Water Rats. London WELCOME to the world of Jap pop. It's a totally different mind game to anything our fellow countrymen or crosspond relations have to offer. It's noisy girl punk-pop without being riot grrrl and you can't understand a damn word of it, even though they allegedly sing in a 50-50 ratio of English and Japanese. Somehow, though, it's spirited nature makes it endearing. Yumi Yumi comprise the small skinny one, the small big-boned one and the small teddy bear - the make believe percussionist who sits cross-legged on top of the backing track machine. They make initial contact with "Panic Smile", quirky guitars washed in painted geisha sounds - a post-Bis sugar candy straight from the cane. Vocals are both tuneful and tuneless, and are muffled out by tasteful and distasteful guitars. Yes, it's paradoxes all round. And in their innocence, Kaori and Yumi are oblivious to the fact that their mischievous musical frolickings serve up grins all round. In their own world, they glance at each other with cheeky gleams like this is the greatest fun they've ever had. "Stupid" is the strangest, most exciting, syllable-swinging affair - spontaneous discord that's utterly delightful. "Oriental" is Lush scraped along a piercingly screechy blackboard with semi-harmonic harmonies. Ask if they're appealing, and the answer would be yes, mostly, but only to those with a warped empathy, true eccentrics and lovers of all things ridiculous. Julie Glassman

 

Pandamonium. London To SUBSCRIBE: We depend on word-of-mouth to spread the work about this newsletter. If you enjoy reading Music 365, please tell a friend or colleague about it. Anyone can sign up for a free subscription on our web site at http://www.Music365.co.uk or by sending a short e-mail to theRoadie@Music365.co.uk Review: While not wishing to, ahem, pander too fawningly to Fierce Panda's Grand Fromage, the eternally bushy tailed Simon Williams, it's fairly bleedin' obvious that the chap is an inspired spotter of talent. His imprint has helped launch the careers of countless indie notables including Supergrass, Catatonia, Embrace and Placebo, to name but a few. And Pandamonium is the second week-long festival shindig the label has held at this North London venue. Tonight's openers, Japanese gabba gabba mongers Yumi Yumi, are special guests and not actually inmates of the FP menagerie. Purveyors of spiky Ramones bubblegum thrash, this female duo and a drum machine gleefully follow in the feisty footsteps of their fellow countrywoman, Shonen Knife. Hey ho - let's go. Chris King

 

Pandamonium II. Bull & Gate, Kentish Town. London ..Now, they are just a reminder of good (mixer) times past. Then there is JIM'S SUPER STEREOWORLD: Jim formerly of T-shirt makers Carter USM, plus sidekicks, are all apologies for their disappearing gear. They could be dismissed *********cabaret, then. Which leaves Japanese guitars and drum machine duo YUMI YUMI, who are like Carter circa 1989. They are Shonen Knife by halves, all self- conscious humour and garage tunes. Somehow they epitomise the state Panda Indie finds itself in: set sweetly in its ways, oblivious to life outside the local zoo. Endangered, but oh so brilliantly cute. Kitty Empire

 

Pandamonium II. Bull & Gate, Kentish Town. London TUESDAY: It's great how the one thing you didn't expect turns out to stick in your mind. Yumi Yumi, a Japanese duo, aren't even supposed to be here, but the Kenickie-gone-metal likes of "Stupid" and "Panic Smile" are a rare treat. Unlike WORKHUSE, who look like Morrissey's less happy-go-lucky plumber brothers. ASTRONAUT are much more cheerful. From the intro of "Theme From Astronaut, they seem to be having fun, and, by osmosis, so does everyone else. VELOCETTE, meanwhile, have pop ambitions and spangly, string-drenched melodies, and could be wonderful if they didn't look so scared. With tunes like "Bitterscene", they should be shouting about how ace they are, and maybe now they will. Emma Johnston