Tag: CHAI PUNK

CHAI unleash another killer single – “Choose Go!” – from album due March 15th.

WATCH “CHOOSE GO!” https://youtu.be/YoCOh2r6ML0

LISTEN TO “FASHIONISTA” https://bit.ly/2sPcNKG

WATCH “GREAT JOB!” https://youtu.be/5Odk94mxeHU

Japanese four-piece CHAI shares a new single, “CHOOSE GO!,” off of their sophomore album, PUNK, due March 15th via Burger Records, and an accompanying video. Following rebellious single, “Fashionista,” and previously released “GREAT JOB,” “CHOOSE GO!” is an upbeat anthem to be free to choose whatever it is you want to do, however you want to do it. Directed by previous collaborators – Japan-based creative collective Team Mikansei (“Boyz Seco Man”) – the video features vibrant set designs, coordinated costumes, synchronized dance moves, and an eccentric twist on sports.

“Cheerleaders, who are usually known for cheering for athletes on the sideline, now become the actual athletes and are shown as baseball players! It’s the evolution of what is already in existence like sports or cheerleaders to then what would be considered non-existent or fantasy like cheerleaders turned into baseball players and barbies tossed instead of footballs by football players, which makes this music video so cool! CHOOSE GO! CHOOSE FREEDOM!”

PUNK follows their debut album, PINK. If PINK was a plastic, hyper-bright introduction, then PUNK is a deeper, more impactful graduation. It’s the movement from vivid orange to radiating red.

CHAI will bring their energetic live shows to North America in support of PUNK. All tour dates are below.

CHAI TOUR DATES Wed. Mar. 13 – Sat.. Mar. 16 – Austin, TX @ SXSW Mon. Mar. 18 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage Tue. Mar. 19 – Brooklyn, NY @ Market Hotel Wed. Mar. 20 – Toronto, ON @ The Velvet Underground Fri. Mar. 22 – Sat. Mar. 23 – Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Festival Mon. Mar. 25 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Moroccan Lounge Wed. Mar. 27 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop Fri. Mar. 29 – Seattle, WA @ The Vera Project Sat. Mar. 30 – Portland, OR @ Holocene PRAISE FOR CHAI

“‘Fashionista,’ similarly, is still dressed in a patina of femininity, even as resentment bubbles beneath the surface. Pitted against the capitalist behemoth of the beauty industry, CHAI know the best way to fight their enemy is from within.” – Pitchfork

“By the end of the song, dissonant guitar chords have surfaced, the beat is crashing and ricocheting around, and that cloud of voices has turned into a typhoon: a party out of bounds, or a consumer revolt?” – The New York Times, on “Fashionista”

“”CHAI bursts with an energy that is carefree, effervescent, and unmistakably feminine” – She Shreds

“Giddy, frenzied pop” – Bust Magazine, 5/5

Physical Pre-order: https://burgerrecords.11spot.com/chai-punk.html

CHAI Online:

http://chai-band.com/  https://twitter.com/CHAIofficialJPN https://www.instagram.com/chaiofficialjpn/ https://www.facebook.com/CHAIofficialJPN/

Keep your mind open.

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CHAI’s upcoming album, “Punk,” is going to be amazing if the single, “Fashionista,” is any indication.

LISTEN TO “FASHIONISTA”
https://bit.ly/2sPcNKG
 
WATCH “GREAT JOB!” 
https://youtu.be/5Odk94mxeHU
 Japanese four-piece CHAI may worship at the altar of kawaii – their homeland’s culture of cute– but they’re not about to be pushed around by the idle bosses and the ignorant patriarchy. The ultra-concise pop of their debut LP PINK is about to be overhauled on their new album. CHAI are ready to light the fuse; CHAI are PUNK (out March 15th via Burger Records).
 
“’PUNK’ for us, of course, is not the genre of music,” say the band. “‘PUNK’ to us is to overturn the worn-out values associated with ‘kawaii’ or ‘cute’ created up to this point. ‘PUNK’ is a word that expresses a strong sense of self. To be yourself more, to become the person you truly want to be, to believe in yourself in every instance!”
 
First single “Fashionista” is a rebellious demand for self-acceptance in the face of society’s pressures: “Even if you don’t dress or do your makeup like how society expects you too, you’re still a “Fashionista” by expressing yourself how you want to. You decide what you want to wear, how you want to look, what you don’t want to wear, and that is what makes you a Fashionista!”
 
At the core of their music is the concept of “Neo-Kawaii.” They outlined to concept in several interviews in 2018. In Pitchfork’s Rising interview, it’s described as “a move towards the embrace and celebration of human imperfection. ‘Neo-Kawaii’ is properly summarized on the single ‘N.E.O.’ from Pink, which directly comments on oppressive beauty standards, offering a list of supposed imperfections that translate to ‘Small eyes/Flat nose/No shape/Fat legs!’ CHAI seek to reclaim them as perfect.”
 
Late last year, the band also shared the delightfully insane video for“GREAT JOB,” another song off the forthcoming album, where CHAI compare house work to ridding yourself from all negativity. “Some people look at house work as a negative duty but it’s actually a positive duty that represents a refreshed, new you.” Yuuki picks up on this: “Of course we want to continue show our style of positivity-meets-pop but in life there’s definitely times of sadness, times of frustration and even irritating moments that with PUNK, we want everyone to know can be used as energy to fuel the positivity from the negativity”.
 
Their inner strength comes out in the music. If PINK was a plastic, hyper-bright introduction, then PUNK is a deeper, more impactful graduation. It’s the movement from vivid orange to radiating red. Drummer Yuna adds: “Compared with our first album, PUNK represents a more concentrated version of our individualities.”
 
Yuuki crafted the irrepressible album sleeve, with a laughing girl bursting through a shell. The message, they say, is clear: “Hello, New Me!”
 

PUNK TRACKLISTING
1. CHOOSE GO!
2. GREAT JOB
3. I’m me
4. Wintime
5. THIS IS CHAI
6. Fashionista
7. FAMILY MEMBER
8. Curly adventure
9. Feel the BEAT
10. Future

CHAI TOUR DATES
Mon. Mar. 11 – Sun. Mar. 17 – Austin, TX @ SXSW
Mon. Mar. 18 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage
Tue. Mar. 19 – Brooklyn, NY @ Market Hotel
Wed. Mar. 20 – Toronto, ON @ The Velvet Underground
Fri. Mar. 22 – Sat. Mar. 23 – Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Festival
Mon. Mar. 25 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Moroccan Lounge
Wed. Mar. 27 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop
Fri. Mar. 29 – Seattle, WA @ The Vera Project
Sat. Mar. 30 – Portland, OR @ Holocene

PRAISE FOR CHAI

“Moments of pure joy are in short supply these days; a Chai show is a reprieve.”
– Pitchfork [RISING FEATURE]

“Drawing inspiration from the likes of Basement Jaxx, Tom Tom Club, and Devo—groups that have also crafted their own signature, unconventional sounds that defy the pop landscape—the band plays preconceived definitions of cute against each other to create their own new one.”
– FLOOD Magazine

“CHAI bursts with an energy that is carefree, effervescent, and unmistakably feminine”
– She Shreds

“Giddy, frenzied pop” – Bust Magazine, 5/5 

CHAI Online:
http://chai-band.com/
https://twitter.com/CHAIofficialJPN
https://www.instagram.com/chaiofficialjpn/
https://www.facebook.com/CHAIofficialJPN/

Keep your mind open.

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