Perhaps you have heard about the amazing Chinese international southern rock and roll doo-wop punk band Round Eye. That is full of Shanghai based ex-pats. One of them, the singer and guitar hero Chachy – originally from the US – and Guizhou born musician Jiang Zi Xiu during the covid period – which seems to be everlasting in Shanghai – have formed the amazing Chinese international new wave duo GUJI on the great path of Devo and The B-52’s. Here is the second single:

ROUND EYE, the last band of late Stooges saxophonist Steve Mackay is touring in Europe!

Surprisingly they come from Shanghai, where they were voted for the band of the year two times in a row. Their music is so eclectic and entertaining like Mike Patton’s band Mr. Bungle, but undisputedly punk. The members are American and Italian ex-pats.

Their story has been started when Chachy replaced the American Dream with the Chinese one, and with a big leap moved from Florida to Shanghai. There he has formed his Chinese band ROUND EYE.

His American band was the Libyan Hit Squad. It also was not a simple affair, but was undisputedly punk with such influences as jazz drummer Buddy Rich, free jazz pioneer Ornette Coleman, or the hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult. But ROUND EYE adds two more shovelful of it, so their music is hardly descript, but I try: it is an amazing hardcore punk jazz ska rock and roll doo wop blues surf madhouse.

During the recordings of their first album Stooges saxplayer Steve Mackay joined, and made his final album and tour with them. He died 4 months after the album release, but you can listen to him on ROUND EYE second album Monster Vision too which released this year.

And this summer you can catch them somewhere in Europe

12 AUG BUDAPEST (HUNGARY)

RNR666 NIGHT OF INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP

There they going to play together with sax’n’trash band CHICAGO BULLS and PISS CRYSTALS, who play noisy, lil psych, and very alternative rock.

There was a pretty boring „dream-pop outfit called Mezzanine Owls” in LA. Two of them (Zeitlin – guitar, Mu – drums) have founded ALPINE DECLINE, moved to Beijing to teach on Communication University of China, and reborn as a thrilling

nightmare pop / smokegaze / rust punk / acid greenhouse band

New album Life’s a Gasp by Maybe Mars Records (China)

Round Eye is weird ex-pat punk band with two sax in Shanghai. Their brand new video about what they think about America today. The band was founded by Chachy, who has moved there from Orlando, Florida in 2010.

He said an interview on Dangerous Mind

„It’s funny, Chinese media is using what’s happening with Trump and America as an example of why Democracy doesn’t work. ”

„I get a good earful of global opinions on how America is presenting itself and trust me, it’s universally laughed at. (…) Everyone sees the social nightmare he’s dredged up and they start to realize that what was once an American issue is now getting dangerously close to becoming an international one. Not laughing as much anymore.”

„DE-evolution has truly arrived. ” Because We the People

Anyway “the best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter” as per Winston Churchill.

An interview with Chachy about China on RNR666

Mr. Gaymer from Dartford, UK, teachs English at an university in Beijing, but after school he plays Misfits influenced blues trash as GUIGUISUISUI together  with his some co-characters. He is 138, of course.

All the backing beats are composed on a Nintendo Gameboy or from found 8-bit games. Mixed and co-produced by luminary Beijing producer/sonic journeyman extraordinaire, Yan Haisong (P.K.14, Dear Eloise). Debut 7″ on Genjing Recods (PROC)

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Liam Hayes aka Plush has made various pop albums with minimal and maximal orchestration from the mid-90s. His progressive bubblegum rock and roll album is coming soon on Fat Possum (US)

„We are not rock star, we’re all just ordinary people!”

„This is the beer soaked sound of the Henan suburbs”

THE FALLACY
from Xinxiang
punk, noise rock, like the Fugazi

7″ vinyl and digital single on Tenzenmen (Aus) and Genjing Records (China)

more THE FALLACY music

Bulbul started as a one-man band with guitar, drum machine and vacuum cleaner in Austria. It became a trio. They speak numerous musical languages from jazz to metal. They did cooperation with Leonid Soybelman (Ne Zhdali, Kletka Red), KK Null (Zeni Geva). Horribly funny music.

„Hirn fein hacken” album on Exile on Mainstream (Germany)
and Rock is Hell Records (Austria)

Some shows in Austria, Germany, Czech and Switzerland

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Carsick Cars are among the leading alternative Chinese rock bands. They describe themselves as noise rock band, but the measure of noise shows low degree. (Perhaps the Chinese notion about noise differs from the Western conception.) Soft Sonic Youth-like, Velvet Underground influenced indie rock with Chinese motifs on a surprisingly good album which was co-produced by Hamish Kilgoure from The Clean! (Influential New Zealander indie rock band.)

„3” album via Maybe Mars (China) and Tenzenmen (Australia)

Their side projects: 1. White+. Kraut-like electronic duo. First CD was produced by Blixa Bargeld (Einstürzende Neubauten, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds).
2. One of my fav Chinese bands: Snapline. Post punk trio. Debut album was produced and released by Martin Atkins (drummer of PIL, Pigface and many more).

An interview about the Chinese musical underground

塞翁失馬  > pron: Sāi Wēng Shī Mǎ

During the Han Dynasty, in the third century B.C., one day an old Chinese man named Sai Weng, lost his horse. His neighbors all said what terrible luck that was, and sympathized with the old man. But Mister Weng said: “I don’t know, maybe losing my horse is not a bad thing after all.”
The next day the old man’s horse returned, together with a beautiful female horse alongside him. All the neighbors exclaimed: “What great luck!” But the old man responded: “Maybe this is not such good luck after all.”
Old man Sai Weng also had a strong, young son. The boy fell in love with the new horse and rode her every day. One day the new horse got spooked by a wild animal in the forest and threw the boy from her back. He broke his leg very badly and was permanently crippled.
All Mister Weng’s neighbors said: “What a tragedy, your strong son will never walk without pain again.” But the old man again said: “Maybe this is not such a bad thing after all.”
And so it went that when the New Year came, the Emperor’s army passed through the region and recruited all able young men to fight in the frontier war. Because the old man’s son was crippled he could not fight and was left in the village to farm with his father. Sai Weng said to his neighbors: “You see, it all turned out OK in the end. Being thrown from the new horse and breaking his leg saved my son from fighting in the war and almost certain death. So it was in the end a lucky thing after all.”

Whenever bad thing happens in China, someone will say “Sai Weng Shi Ma” ( “The Old Man Who Lost His Horse”) to remind themselves and others that apparently bad things sometimes have a silver lining.

Happy Chinese New Year for Everybody in Year of The Horse

新年快樂 > xīn nián kuài lè

The story is taken from Just Another Day in China

Desperately optimist French raw psych pop with the taste of 60s

Juniore – debut 7″ by Les Disques Entreprise

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P.K. 14 (Public Kingdom for Teens) is the most influential Chinese post-punk band. The singer, Yang Haisong is one of China’s  better-known young poets. Their music is influenced by Joy Division, Talking Heads, Television, Pere Ubu, Fugazi, Bauhaus, Wilco and more. The album „1984” was recorded in Chicago with Steve Albini!

It’s released in August on CD and digitally by Maybe Mars Records, but now it’s on vinyl too by  Tenzemen.

Yang Haisong has two sideprojects. Dear Eloise – electro noise pop with his wife, and After Argument – shows his interests in Washington D.C. punk bands.

An interview about the Chinese rock scene

Streets Kill Strange Animals. Chinese noise rock influenced by Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, Yo La Tango and the rapid pace of change and modernization in China. „There was less pollution and fewer people in the 80s of my childhood, though you could enjoy less entertainment and there wasn’t such chaos in the cities. So it seems that I’m a passenger on the bus these days.”

7″ by Genjing Records

An interview about the Chinese alternative rock scene on RNR666.

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Pizza Time. Easy Spanish pop punk from Denver. Perfect for the rainy days.

Quiero Mas – cassette by Burger. Free download!

A little different style music is on their demo:
no pop, but raw noisy lo-fi garage beats. Free!

Some moments of a Pizzaboy’s life: „I’m gonna wear the same clothes everyday in California just change my undies and socks. That was my plan but apparently I drank too much last night! Pissed the bed and lost a „Z” from my jacket… walking through the airport with a massive pee stain on my pants was pretty tight.”

We have got a nice letter with a download link from China. Chachy ask for a review about his bands’ new split LP. The record is named Full Circle. I have listened it repeatedly, but couldn’t get bore. The American Libyan Hit Squad is on the A side. It’s a very good punk band a la NoMeansNo, and because of the voice of the singer is similar to Jello Biafra’s voice, their music comes into my mind the common album of NoMeansNo and Biafra. In the album title track Greg Ginn plays from Black Flag:

The LHS is now defunct because Chachy, the sole continuous member has moved to Shanghai (maybe to open a tex-mex bar there) and formed the Round Eye with some expat members. This phrase used by Asians to describe the white men. They play be-bop influenced hard rock and roll with alt and baritone saxophones. Their music sometimes almost power pop, but this is not disturbing. It’s a really great album by Genjing Records/ Ripping Records

A Butthole Surfers like track and video: