Private Scandal Party Vol.3 (The MARGAReTS, Tom and Boot Boys, Thought Control, The ノーフューチャーズ, THE TITS)

October 2016, I was back in Japan for a Crack the Marian gig and I wanted to book another Private Scandal Party. Despite the last one being somewhat successful I wanted this one to be even better. The first thing was booking it on a Saturday night, and the second thing was charging a reasonable ticket price that wasn’t a rip-off, but still allowed the bands to get a decent bit of cash for the gig. The lineup was the easy part, I’d been thinking about that for months and knew exactly who I wanted to play!

At the beginning of the year, RECONSIDERATION played their last gig. To say I was gutted was an understatement, I loved them. Luckily it didn’t take long for vocalist, Yusuke, to start a new band. In the Spring when we were hanging out, he told me “I’m going to start a new band…called INVADE!!!” I had to tell him that it was a crap band name. The next day he said, “I’ve got a new name…THE TITS!”

I’m not sure if it was any better, but it was undeniably punk! The initial lineup of THE TITS was going to feature Yusuke and Yossy from RECONSIDERATION on vocals and bass but for whatever reason it didn’t work out. They settled on a line-up of Yusuke (ex.RECONSIDERATION/DROPEND) on vocals, Yuto (ex.4SPIKES, THE DISCLOWTER etc) on guitar, Taro (ex.The ERECTiONS/COURT FREAKS), and a bloke called Gai on bass. They recorded their first demo in July. There are 2 different versions of that first demo recorded about 2 weeks apart. You can tell the difference as the first version has the band name on the front cover and the second recording doesn't have the band name on the front. Musically, that first demo was a total love letter to The Donkeys, and the 2 different recordings are a nod to Confuse’s Indignation tape, and I loved it!

It was a given that I was going to ask THE TITS to play Private Scandal Party Vol.3.

I also wanted to ask Tom And Boot Boys, who before Chaotic Dischord became an actual band who played gigs, where the closest you could get to watching Chaotic Dischord live. I also asked my old friend Iwata’s band The ノーフューチャーズ (The No Futures).

The other band that I desperately wanted to play the gig was Thought Control from Chiba. Thought Control was almost a cult band within Japan, they played noisecore with “strong messages” and had been active since 1999, their recorded output consisted of a few compilation appearances, a demo, and a split tape with the even more cult band, Extintos. They didn't live very often and I wasn’t sure if they were even active, but they accepted and promised a surprise, but what convinced them was the headliner…

The MARGAReTS! The MARGAReTS were local heroes in their scene in Chiba and played noisy punk rock not too dissimilar to The SWANKYS. They played a one-off gig the year before and were happy to play again.

The lineup was sorted, THE TITS, The ノーフューチャーズ (The No Futures), Tom and Boot Boys, Thought Control, and The MARGAReTS. The DJs for the gig were me and DJ Spunky (Mighty, owner of the punk shop KILLERS) and I asked the photographer Senna Chanel to document the event.

Once the gig was announced the ticket reservations were much better than the previous Private Scandal Party, I even had a few folks from overseas buy tickets.

The day of the gig came and we arrived at the venue for soundcheck where the surprise Thought Control had been planning was revealed. They asked Azusa (Stagnation, C) to join on “noise guitar”…now, Azusa was a pretty competent bass player, just listen to those early Stagnation recordings like the split with Exithippies, but he couldn’t play a guitar to save his life! Luckily enough the sound coming out of the amp barely resembled an instrument and was more like the sound of a thousand cicadas, so it hid the fact he was barely playing.

Yusuke (THE TITS).

The time came for the doors to open and there was a crowd of punters waiting to get in, I was positive it was going to be a good night.

THE TITS were the opening act, they hadn’t played much but I was blown away by how good they sounded. A harder more violent sound than RECONSIDERATION it was what I imagine The Donkeys or those early Violent Party gigs with Confuse, Gai, etc sounded like live.

THE TITS. Photo by Senna Chanel.

The ノーフューチャーズ (The No Futures) up next, originally, they played chaotic noisecore but gradually changed into a 70’s punk rock style band with some great Johnny Thunder-esque guitar licks, they ended their set playing one of their early songs which was a treat.

The ノーフューチャーズ (The No Futures). Photo by Senna Chanel.

The crowd was a decent size by the time it came for Thought Control’s set. Pit Bar isn’t a particularly big venue by any means, but it felt packed, and the atmosphere was great. Thought Control’s set started with the ear-splitting sound of feedback before they played a cover of The Stooges’ classic ‘1970’ followed by a quick speech by vocalist, Dai-chan. Pleasantries were out of the way and without messing around they got on with their set. The crowd erupted and they played one of my favourite sets ever. They felt like a bit of a well-kept secret, and I hoped that they would go on to become more well-known. A couple of years later they released an album called Pop Allergy on Strong Mind Japan and toured Japan with Disorder but sadly the album seems to have gone under the radar. If you’re a fan of noise punk I urge you to track down that CD, you won’t be disappointed. In the meantime, check out the video of their set at the bottom of this post.

Thought Control. Photo by Senna Chanel.

Tom and Boot Boys played their patented brand of drunk punk and their vocalist Nori got naked, of course. They played Tokyo all the time, so they were a bit of a cool-off band after Thought Control’s set, but it soon came time for the headliner.

Tom and Boot Boys. Photo by Senna Chanel.

The MARGAReTS was another kind of cult band. They released a few tapes in the early-to-mid 90’s but had inspired an entire generation in Chiba. Screaming Noise, for example, was a total MARGAReTS-worship act, MARGAReTS guitarist Uda was even on the first Screaming Noise record!

I was incredibly excited for their set and couldn’t quite believe they were playing a gig that I had booked. The members of all the preceding bands all loved The MARGAReTS and the crowd did, too. Their set was chaotic, from punters flying through the air and bass amps breaking it was the perfect kind of ‘everything is about to fall apart’ energy that made it so much more fun. Their set consisted of mostly later, more hardcore songs from the Your States Fuck Off tape. Senna, the photographer couldn’t get anywhere near the band because of how crazy the crowd was going. It was a short but sweet set that left everybody wanting more.

The MARGAReTS Barmy Army! Photo by Senna Chanel.

At the end of their set, vocalist, Uda told me that would be their final gig. They never announced it beforehand, but they decided that it was the perfect end to their stint as a band, as cheesy as it sounds I was honoured.

Everybody who played and attended seemed to have enjoyed themselves. Each band got some cash and I felt inspired and energised by the gig and came away thinking “punk is great!”.