More on Sambomaster

I just read an article that almost made me cry, and here it is. It's way long-winded and a bit frustrating, but it's heart is in the right place.

In regards to what the article says, there are plenty of great American bands on par with Japan's Sambomaster, but none (save Nirvana, perhaps) have achieved the stratospheric fame they have while being as honest as they have. Honesty seems like such a strange word to use to describe music, but it's the main thing I find myself saying about music that I like. The best music will broadcast honesty on all frequencies, and it's easy to feel it seeping into your brain. Sambomaster is broadcasting that crap like SETI. Nirvana definitely didn't pull any punches, and while I'm not the biggest Nirvana fan, I have to acknowledge that they were who they were and that's all that they were. Among other things, without warning, Nirvana performed "Rape Me" on national TV, and (I feel stupid even saying it) their singer killed himself, thus making the ultimate statement to complement his music (an albeit stupid move, I say).

Sambomaster's a lot less dreary and more to my liking than Nirvana, but in Japan they're relatively almost as popular as Nirvana was. Sambomaster videos are shown on bigscreens on the side of high-rises in intersections filled with thousands of pedestrians; Sambomaster has done the theme song to one of Japan's most popular anime, as well as one of the most popular prime-time dramas; Sambomaster's songs are in soft-drink commercials. The day I see The Weakerthans, Ted Leo, or November Trials on the side of a building in Times Square, being interviewed by Larry King and blowing his puny brain, is the day that the wonderfully unthinkable has happened in America. I won't explain it too much, since you should read this horribly long article, but the wonderfully unthinkable is happening in Japan.