Tokyo's The Suzan dropped their first new song in more than four years last week when they released "Jungle Beat" on June 30th via the Swedish Artist Collective INGRID. They revealed the new tune with the help of BlackBook Mag the day prior, who noted the "modern-primitive rhythms, exuberant horn blasts and primordial chanting actually recall post-punk provocateurs like The Slits and Rip Rig + Panic." Bjorn Yttling (Peter Bjorn and John, Chrissie Hynde, Primal Scream, Lykke Li) produced the latest music from the band, who he first discovered back in 2008 and has been working with ever since.
The Suzan originally formed in 2004 in Tokyo, Japan by sisters Rie (keyboards and vocals) and Saori (guitar and vocals) - who remain the core members. They released their debut EP Suzan
Kingdom in 2004 and followed that with their debut album Suzan Galaxy in 2007. The album came out on Japanese indie label Rose Records and was followed by a European Tour. In 2008 they connected with Bjorn Yttling via MySpace and he produced their second album Golden Week For The Poco Poco Beat that was released in 2010 worldwide by tastemaker indie label
Fool's Gold (Kid Sister, Kid Cudi, Duck Sauce).
The press immediately took notice. The Fader premiered the first single "Home,"
Pitchfork reviewed the new album, declaring "The Suzan have an infectious energy," and WNYC's
Soundcheck described the band's music as "...psychedelic garage rock meets new wave." In addition, "Come Come" off Golden Week For The Poco Beat got picked up for an NFL Verizon TV campaign in 2011 and they created a video for "Ha Ha Ha" with the DELL and Intel campaign "Create.Work.Inspire."
By this point in time the band had relocated to NYC, enabling them to tour the US with Chromeo, Peter Bjorn and John, Titus Andronicus, Datarock, Zambri and more. In 2013, famed Japanese photographer and filmmaker Mike Nogami released a documentary film The First Step that featured
The Suzan and showcased the girls' fearlessness. After four years in NYC,
The Suzan decided to return to Japan where Rie and Saori started their own record label called Poco Poco Beat and released the mini album Draw Your Dream in August 2015 in Japan.
Outside of a few singles, the Doki Doki Sounds EP is The Suzan's first release in the US since 2010's Golden Week For The Poco Poco Beat LP. Set to drop on July 28th via INGRID, the band is coming to NYC for two very special shows in August to celebrate the new EP - the 5th at Sunnyvale in Brooklyn and the 10th at
Pianos in Manhattan.
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