Osaka Popstar returns. After an expanded edition of Osaka Popstar’s 2006 album “Osaka Popstar & the American Legends of Punk,” which was released in February, this punk supergroup released their latest EP “Ear Candy” last May.
John Cafiero is the founder of Osaka Popstar, a band that has been a Ramones and Misfits collaborator for many years. The Misfits’ Jerry Only, Dez Cadena, Marky Ramone and Ivan Julian were the band’s first members.
Their music would be a mix of old covers, original songs, and punk covers from anime shows like “Astroboy” and “Sailor Moon”.
Cafiero is changing his lineup since 2016’s Christmas in the Loony Bin. He is joined on the guitar by Dean Rispler of NY rock band The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black and Jon Wurster of The Mountain Goats, Bob Mould, Superchunk.
Cafiero debuts “Lost & Found”, a new original song by In-Ear . It is accompanied by a music video starring Fred Armanisen, an actor and comedian. The EP also features reinvented cover versions of The Archies’ Sugar, Sugar, The Partridge Familys’ I Think I Love You, and The Monkees’ All Of Your Toys.
Cafiero is a fan of animation. In addition to being a director, he also directed Misfit music videos (“American Psycho”) and “Dig Up Her Bones,” as well as Insane Clown Posse comedy (Big Money Hustlas) and documentary (“Ramones: Raw.”-Cafiero’s Q&A with AntiMusic.
Music is still an area of great potential for the band. Osaka Popstar is mostly a collection of covers. It’s time to change that. Lost & Found can be a great track, but their covers cannot surpass the originals. They keep the line in between pop-punk/classic punk but don’t take too much from the classics to make it their own.
Ear Candy is Osaka Popstar’s debut project since 2008. They have released singles every now and again in the past. Osaka Popstar, although still signed by Misfits Record, can’t rely solely on their name recognition. This is especially true now that they have added obscure rock musicians to their roster. Cafiero must make a new album with original songs and a clear direction, if he is to move his talents to the next stage (which he clearly intends to do).
