Figuring out Japanese band nomenclature can be frustrating, and Base Ball Bear is a case in point. It seems that the band's four members really liked a song by Japanese female singer Chocolat called "Baseball and E. Presley", so they decided to use "baseball" as part of the band's name. The "bear" part has no special meaning. You figure it out. BBB comprises guitarist/vocalist Yusuke Koide, who's from Atsugi, in Kanagawa Prefecture; bassist Shiori Sekine - the only...

Figuring out Japanese band nomenclature can be frustrating, and Base Ball Bear is a case in point. It seems that the band's four members really liked a song by Japanese female singer Chocolat called "Baseball and E. Presley", so they decided to use "baseball" as part of the band's name. The "bear" part has no special meaning. You figure it out. BBB comprises guitarist/vocalist Yusuke Koide, who's from Atsugi, in Kanagawa Prefecture; bassist Shiori Sekine - the only female member of the band - who's from Saitama City in Saitama Prefecture; guitarist Shohei Yuasa, another Atsugi native, and drummer Daisuke Horinouchi, who's from Tokyo. They met while they were in high school, specifically when Koide decided to organize a band to play at a school festival. They kept at it, and then sent a demo tape to Toshiba-EMI talent scout Keitaro Kamo, whose other musical discoveries include Number Girl, Super Butter Dog and Kishidan. Kamo liked what he heard and mentored the band preparatory to their recent signing to Toshiba-EMI. This is a young band - none of the members of Base Ball Bear is older than 20. Almost as soon as the band got together, Base Ball Bear started releasing self-distributed tapes and CD-Rs of their music. Their first "official" release was the mini-album "Yugata Generation (Evening Generation)" in November 2003. Base Ball Bear's early demos were very amateurish, although it was obvious tell they had a lot of originality and potential. The band's more recent material is much tighter and extremely well-performed, combining a strong power-pop sense with a sometimes harsh, angular sound that recalls Gang of Four.