With a mix of spaghetti western trumpets, a '60s pop sound more akin to Bacharach/David than Lennon/McCartney, and a singer who croons like Gene Pitney and postures like Morrissey, Boston's Eddie Japan is not your typical rock band. When singer/songwriter David Santos set out in late 2006 to form a new band, it was trumpet he was hearing as a lead instrument. He sought out trumpet player/multi-instrumentalist Chris Barrett, who then recruited fellow ex-Paula Kelley Orchestra bandmate and bass player Jim Collins. Esteemed Boston guitarist George Hall (Seks Bomba) was brought aboard, and was soon followed by drummer Jason Baldock and guitarist Bart LoPiccolo.
The sextet ’s debut EP, a four-song affair simply titled, “Four by Six,” was released in December 2009. Within this introductory collection, the elegant fringes and melancholic corners of rock and roll are well represented. A mariachi sound is used to full effect in the uptempo opening track, "Pushing Years," while "Return to Blue (Hey, Sorrow)" is built around an indelible Bacharach-inspired trumpet line and hints at psychedelia via electric sitar. There is the Morricone-infused garage rock of "The Power of Negative Thinking," and the EP closer, "Hold On to Your Anger," begins as gentle '60s soul, but achieves epic status by song's end with a "Wall of Sound" production style.
Lyrically, Morrissey's influence hovers over the proceedings. With themes of existential panic, a song about the chronic mood disorder, "dysthymia," and a chorus that declares, "that misanthropic view, is gonna see you through" (from "Hold On to Your Anger" ), Santos could be tagged as Boston's newest miserablist.Eddie Japan has shared bills with Scarce, The Blizzard of ’78, Sidewalk Driver, Dave Godowsky, and The Weisstronauts. The band aims to record a full-length CD in 2010.
PRESS:"Soaring 1960s influenced pop with mariachi trumpets and spaghetti western guitars. "The Power of Negative Thinking" might be my favorite song of 2009." -- NICK BALKIN, BOSTON BAND CRUSH (DEC 15, 0009)
"The EP is 60s pop that reminds me of the best of early Neil Diamond with lyrics akin to Morrissey." -- SOPHIA CACCIOLA, BOSTON BAND CRUSH (DEC 08, 2009)
"just plain dangerous" -- RYAN'S SMASHING LIFE (NOV 24, 2009)
"A pleasure to be working with this relatively new Boston pop band. Lead singer David Santos gets my vote for vocalist of the year." -- Pete Weiss of Verdant Studio and The Weisstronauts
".impressively developed pop." -- Cheap Thrills, Boston (JAN, 2009)View Eddie Japan's EPK
