MUTANT MONSTER at Academy2, Islington

You could be forgiven for thinking MUTANT MONSTER were a British band given how regularly they’ve performed here since their UK debut in 2016. Unlike many Japanese groups that just visit London, the garage punk trio make a proper job of it, heading to towns and cities all over the place. The first stop on this year’s tour is Islington’s Academy2 before they zip round the country, hitting Huddersfield, Hull, Edinburgh, Nottingham and Manchester before finishing up back in London with a couple of slots at the Camden Rocks festival.

Be and Meana credit their punk-inspired sound to their parents’ record collection, growing up to a soundtrack of the Ramones, the Sex Pistols and The Clash. The thought of the young sisters cranking up Never Mind the Bollocks to max volume and bouncing off the walls, playing air guitar and shouting “I am an anarchist!” is an appealing image of family life. Whether that ever happened or not, in real life that’s the sort of energy that MUTANT MONSTER give off.

Tonight’s audience is buzzing with energy too, chanting for MUTANT MONSTER as the trio take to the stage in their matching punky shirts, designed with echoes of Jamie Reid’s Sex Pistols artwork. The show kicks off with ABNORMAL and the crowd are into it straight away, chanting, bouncing and waving their MUTANT MONSTER towels in the air. The band, who just minutes before were chatting politely with fans and selling them those towels, are back in their element. Guitarist Meana plays cheerleader, urging the crowd on as Be, cool as you like, swaggers across the stage pounding out the bassline on her sleek black Gibson Thunderbird. Every drummer loves to make noise, but few can be as happy about it as Chad, who has a huge grin across her face all night.

They certainly know how to get a crowd going and KAWAII DAKEJA IRARENAI is custom built for it. An equipment case at centre stage serves as a step and Meana is up there, getting the crowd singing and chanting along. But even while they’re showing everybody a good time they have a point to make too. The song’s title roughly translates as ‘we don’t want to be just cute’ and the unspoken underside of Japan’s ‘kawaii’ culture is that while women may be expected to look cute, they’re also expected to sit down, shut up and not rock the boat. MUTANT MONSTER ain’t having any of that. They’re here to rock the boat, the house, and anything else that might need rocking while they’re at it.

For all their onstage attitude, in some ways they’re the antithesis of punk. They’re a hard-working, professional band with a seemingly relentless live schedule that also always have time and a smile for their fans. The trio’s short bobbed hairstyles stand as testament to their kindness and generosity. They spent years growing long locks in order to donate their hair to a charity that makes wigs for children fighting cancer.

MUTANT MONSTER’s set tonight is a mix of old favourites and tracks from their latest album, released by JPU Records in Europe under the title NEKOKABURI, a Japanese idiom that carries the meaning of a sort of feline equivalent to wolf in sheep’s clothing–lions in cats’ clothing. At times we see a flash of their lion’s teeth and claws behind the cute cat’s looks as they throw aggression into their performance, though their brand of punk is more in line with musicality of The Clash than the venomous belligerence of the Sex Pistols. Much like The Clash, they dabble with musical genres other than their usual pop-punk sound. TOKYO is almost a ballad, KOPPAMIJIN ROCKET bounces along to a ska beat and they switch up the originally frantic and stroppy LAZY GUY into a laid back reggae number. MUTANT MONSTER aren’t making any huge musical innovations here and their influences are clear for all to see but that doesn’t stop their catchy, punchy garage punk songs from being a ton of fun.

They build to a big finale with GIRLS FIGHT, which always seems to get an extra dose of aggression, and tonight is no exception. They depart backstage, Meana wishing everybody her customary “Thank you very fucking much!” but the crowd aren’t accepting that as the end of the night and they start up the cheers and chants for an encore. Their reward is another blast of MUTANT MONSTER with BARABARA and SUMMER TICKET before Meana delivers the final word, an extra grateful “Thank you very, very, very fucking much!”

Set list

01. ABNORMAL
02. KAWAII DAKEJA IRARENAI
03. KAMISAMA ONEGAI
04. HANASHITE AGERU
05. ORION
06. YURYORENAI
07. NEKOKABURI
08. LAZY GUY
09. SPARKLING ENERGY
10. RAY OF LIGHT
11. TOKYO
12. BUB-BUB-BUBBLE
13. HASHIDARASE!
14. KOPPAMIJIN ROCKET
15. GIRLS FIGHT
16. BARABARA
17. SUMMER TICKET