Music INSIGHT
Daikaiju
www.daikaiju.org
“Who is the Daikaiju???
Premium action heroes
deliver most high rocket
music! Special reverb
skill combo for full impact! Loud sonic boom
for earful pleasure!
Beautiful radiation of hyper-dimensional springy
sound creates divine psychic wind for your special
defense! Worship Psycho-surf band Daikaiju daily
for good luck and health!”
Daikaiju is a mysterious chimera of sound and imagery that was first sighted in the winter of 1999.
Entities of sonic mayhem, Daikaiju takes the sound
of waves crashing and shrieking atomic lizards and
makes it rock in a way that instills post-traumatic
shock in all who experience their shows-a bizarre
mix of psychedelic visuals and a highly interactive performance that literally draws the audience
into the massive vortex of sound generated by the
band. Concealed behind masks, this troupe of mystery men currently consists of Secret-Man, MobileMan, Hit-Man, and Rock-Man. Together, they create
a mutant style of epic, high energy instrumental
rock that seamlessly incorporates a wide variety of
musical styles including surf, punk, metal, psychedelic and progressive rock.
Like its namesake, the music of Daikaiju is a great,
mysterious beast. Compelling melodies, hard-hitting riffs and shifting dynamics fuse together to
create songs that dare the listener to experience
the secret history of the universe-a fantastic reality of giant monsters, super humans, and extraterrestrial invasions that unfolds like the soundtrack of
the greatest monster movie never made.
During the early years of the 21st
century, Daikaiju’s constant touring
in support of their first EP, Monster
Surf, built-up a substantial following
throughout the southeastern U.S.
They expanded their roadwork to the
rest of the country as well as overseas
with a tour of the Netherlands in November 2001, followed by a lengthier
European stay in 2002. In February
2002, the band released their second
EP, The Phasing Spider Menace which won them
many new fans via liberal airplay on college radio
and on a number of podcasts including Escape Pod
(www.escapepod.org)-- a weekly podcast of science fiction and fantasy shorts. The band has also
been featured on a number of U.S. and European
compilations as well as on Kaiju Big Battel (www.
kaiju.com) video productions. In 2005, the band
released its debut full-length album on Reptile Records. The self-titled record garnered rave reviews
from a wide variety of music publications including
music pundits Pitchfork Media (www.pitchforkmedia.com) who hailed Daikaiju as one of the greatest
instrumental surf bands currently in existence. In
September 2010, the band released its second fulllength album-Phase 2-on DingDong Records. The
long-awaited album became a huge crossover critical success that got recognized in various annual
Top 10 lists for surf, heavy metal and progressive
rock releases. The band embarked on a whirlwind
tour of the continental U.S. in support of the album
playing well over 200 shows in 2011. In 2012, the
band embarked on two European tours and continued their lengthy roadword throughout the U.S.
2013, will see Daikaiju embark on a massive summer tour across the Western U.S. and over to the Far
East for their first shows in China, South Korea, and
Japan.
Street Shark
www.streetshark.bandcamp.com
Noise Rock from Jacksonville, AL
46
Baak Gwai
www.reverbnation.com/baakgwai
Indi Rock royalty from Tuscaloosa, AL Since 2004.
October 2013
INSIGHT