‘SCANDAL’ TAKES AMERICA BY STORM

Scandal, from left, Mami Sasazaki, Rina Suzuki, Tomomi Ogawa and Haruna Ono, March 21, 2008.

A spunky quartet of Osaka schoolgirls has done something that megagroups AKB48 and Morning Musume have not been able to pull off: Bring a live teen-girl J-pop act on a national tour and wake up the slumbering American pop-music scene as a result.

Haruna, sans glasses, gets down to business fronting Scandal.

Granted, these kids called “SCANDAL” are more than a few steps from greatness. But the sophisticated, enthusiastic March 21 crowd at The Independent loved SCANDAL's jackhammer seven-song set that opened the San Francisco stop on the eight-city Japan Nite 2008 tour that ends Sunday [March 23] in L.A.

Yes, they performed “Oh, You Are the Play-Boy!” and six other hard-rock numbers before a packed-out Independent audience – but only after everyone got over the initial shock of seeing the clean-cut, low-key, uniformed teens take the stage, replete with stuffed anime characters and sequined guitars.

Mami lays down a lick on March 21 at The Independent in San Francisco.

SCANDAL has yet to officially release a single, although manager Ohira Taichi insisted that three singles and a full album are in the works. Precious few sample CDs of "Space Ranger," the first such single planned for Japanese release in April, were snapped up by hungry fans Friday.

This tour – which started its lightning 10-day run in Austin, Texas on March 14 and then New York, Boston, Chicago, Denver and Seattle before wrapping up in San Francisco and L.A. – far exceeded expectations in jump-starting SCANDAL’s idol-singing career, Taichi said.

“In all cities the reaction has been very positive,” Taichi said calmly. “This is just what we were hoping for.”

The group’s upbeat blog, in Japanese, is at: http://www.myspace.com/scandal4

Rina of SCANDAL, above in S.F. in March 2008, has at least one female dummer rival in Emi Yahiro.

OK, now for the hard part. How good are they really, and how does the group break down? The answers are “very good” and “excellent,” respectively. A quick thumbnail of each member, presented by Taichi and from first-hand viewing and hearing of the March 21 show, follows:

*** Haruna Ono, front girl, vocals and rhythm guitar: This 19-year-old is in the middle mainly because of showmanship and motion, not necessarily playing or singing skill. She wears Ami Tokito-style glasses most of the time but sheds them come performances. Otherwise, she would lose them in the balcony somewhere in short order.

Mami, left, and Rina get in a few extra poses with Japanese media on March 21.

*** Mami Sasazaki, lede guitar, some vocals: This 17-year-old, who bears a vague resemblance to Maasa of Berryz Kobo, can stretch and play complex bar chords despite her relative inexperience. She does finger a few ledes, but uses chord bursts with plenty of fuzztone to get the point across. Bombastic, if not a little pitchy on occasion (although, in all fairness, some pitch variations affected the other more experienced bands in this particular show).

*** Tomomi Ogawa, bass and lede vocals: It doesn’t really say she is the lede vocalist, but she is clearly the most dominant singer, and is probably able to do it because electric bass is simply not as intense as regular guitar. A very big voice, strong middle range, somewhat like Yurina of Berryz Kobo. At 17, already a polished musician.

*** Rina Suzuki, percussion: Saved the best for last. Youngest, 16, and the stunning looker of the bunch. Doesn‘t really remind me of anyone in Hello Project, except maybe Airi Suzuki of °C-ute fame (I don’t think they’re related) And don't let those delicate looks fool you. Rina has big-time percussion skills. Big-time..

Sun sets on Scandal members, from left, Mami, Tomomi, Rina and Haruna.

Overall, quite an impressive package, and look for them to rise in popularity, but maybe not that quickly in Japan because of the preponderance of schoolgirl-idol groups. The main difference with SCANDAL is that they actually play live – and do a darn good job of it.

This is Radicalipton signing off – for now.