Titan Go King's are one of the hundreds (or perhaps thousands) of girl-bands to follow down the cute, spunky, and sometimes silly trail originally blazed by
Shonen Knife, to which they along with most pop/punk girl bands in Japan since the '80s owe large stylistic debts. Formed in Kyoto in 1996, the band only performed sporadically until 1998, when they began and gigging more consistently around the Kyoto-Osaka region. They began recording demos the same year, and the punk-centric Benten label included them on their 1999 compilation record
Benten Punk Bento, which also included girl-bands
Bleach and Mummy the Peepshow, along with several others. Titan Go King's released their first record,
Ultra Sonic Wave 01 on Benten in January 2000 to a positive reception among punk and girl-band fans both in Japan and abroad, and their future looked bright. A move to Tokyo to pursue a major label deal ensued, but infighting caused the members to go their separate ways, leaving only leader and guitarist/vocalist Pinky to pick up the pieces. Temporarily abandoning the band and taking a job at a recording studio, she signed up new members on bass and drums in 2002, and the Titan Go King's began recording again, playing out in Tokyo from 2003 as a three-piece. The mini album
Go! Go! Idol was released in April 2003, and the band embarked on a national tour to support it, mixing opening dates for punk favorites Lolita No.18 with independent and multi-band bills at smal...
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Titan Go King's are one of the hundreds (or perhaps thousands) of girl-bands to follow down the cute, spunky, and sometimes silly trail originally blazed by
Shonen Knife, to which they along with most pop/punk girl bands in Japan since the '80s owe large stylistic debts. Formed in Kyoto in 1996, the band only performed sporadically until 1998, when they began and gigging more consistently around the Kyoto-Osaka region. They began recording demos the same year, and the punk-centric Benten label included them on their 1999 compilation record
Benten Punk Bento, which also included girl-bands
Bleach and Mummy the Peepshow, along with several others. Titan Go King's released their first record,
Ultra Sonic Wave 01 on Benten in January 2000 to a positive reception among punk and girl-band fans both in Japan and abroad, and their future looked bright. A move to Tokyo to pursue a major label deal ensued, but infighting caused the members to go their separate ways, leaving only leader and guitarist/vocalist Pinky to pick up the pieces. Temporarily abandoning the band and taking a job at a recording studio, she signed up new members on bass and drums in 2002, and the Titan Go King's began recording again, playing out in Tokyo from 2003 as a three-piece. The mini album
Go! Go! Idol was released in April 2003, and the band embarked on a national tour to support it, mixing opening dates for punk favorites Lolita No.18 with independent and multi-band bills at smaller venues. The band re-signed to Benten after the release of
Go! Go! Idol, and dropped the full-length
Gut's Idol in August 2004 - over four years after their debut album. The music has remained largely the same since the group's inception - spunky pop with punk overtones. The lyrics run the gamut, from band theme songs to tunes about bobbed hair and pop idols, all delivered in a cute, adolescent vocal style laced with strong harmonies. The band continues to play the club circuit in Japan, and has established a fairly sizable overseas audience, aided in part by a well-received 2005 appearance at Austin's South by Southwest music festival followed up by a slot on the Japan Girls Nite US Tour, on which they appeared with
Petty Booka, Noodles, and several other Japanese girl groups in multiple US cities. For the record, the band's name in Japanese is Chitan Gokinzu, and means "titanium alloy".
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