Kyoto, Japan

Upon witnessing Otoboke Beaver tear up the stage, Dave Grohl exclaimed, ”It’ll blow your mind, dude. It’s the most fucking intense shit you’ve ever seen.” It’s a fitting tribute to the riotous punk-y explosion of this frantic Japanese four-piece.

Named after an Osaka love hotel, Otoboke Beaver took shape in ‘09 when singer Accorinrin and guitarist Yoyoyoshie met at a music club at Kyoto’s Ritsumeikan University. Following several furious years of releases — including the single "Otobokebeaver Daijikenbo" on Jet Set Records and the 2013 mini-album Love Me Sign  —  the band broke through in 2016 with the album Okoshiyasu!! Otoboke Beaver on Damnably Records. This compilation served as both a record of the band’s early work and a mission statement of joyful hardcore delivered with the subversive precision of Manzai — a rapid-fire style of gonzo Japanese comedy that heavily influences the band’s neck-snapping tempo changes. 

Adding bassist Hirochan, and drummer Kahokiss to the lineup, the band has been unstoppable in the years since, touring the world with Sled Island veterans like Shonen Knife and Guitar Wolf, and bringing the house down at SXSW, FujiRock, and Coachella. Their 2019 album Itekoma Hits further developed the band’s rat-a-tat take on noise punk, described by Pitchfork as “a tornado of defiance,” whilst 2022’s Super Champon takes a knife to tradition with sugar-coated girl-gang vocals across songs like “You’re no hero shut the f*ck up you man-whore” and a surf-y fuzz-punk meltdown entitled “First-class side-guy.” The band has even found the time between whirlwind tours to compose the theme song for the Japanese TV show Susumu Inomata and 8 Mojo. 

With ping-ponging melodies over shredded guitars anchored to the playfully confrontational delivery of Accorinrin, Otoboke Beaver’s Calgary debut opens a portal into punk’s future right here at Sled Island.