Formed in 2002 by
Australian Japanese punk rock band, Inari, Machikara consisted of Machiko (guitar and vocals), Chisato (guitar and vocals),
Eri (bass and vocals), and Hanako (drums).
Played mainly Shonen Knife / Ramones style pop punk in short bursts of pure energy. Directly influenced by Inari in terms of song structure and riff compositioning, but began to create their own structure. Machikara originally used Inari's guitar, bass and drum rigs when playing at the same location, but later went on to preserve this sound in
independent concerts. Therefore the actual 'sound' of their instruments is identical to Inari's and some criticize them for copying.
Eventually outgrew Inari in general
popularity and played in over a dozen different public concerts in 2002, and headlined kick up the dust in 2003 and guest featured at dancekool 2003 in front of thousands.
After Inari lost their drummer, Machikara often featured remaining members, TAKU and TJF, in their performances. Some speculate that this led to the formation of NRE, without Chisato, who left for unknown reasons.
Yoko's Review:
Don't get me wrong, Machikara was a
great band and had some nice songs such as 'Punk girl f*' and 'TRICK', but was
eventually just a female version of Inari. They obviously tried very hard to compose their songs and in some cases their compositioning is theoretically superior to Inari's, but in my opinion they simply lacked the raw energy that the guys of Inari had. Some even go to the extent of likening Machikara to Avril Lavigne in that most of Machikara's popularity sprung from their sk8er boi and girl audience. It was pop punk, but Machiko's real talent isn't seen until NRE. If only Inari and Machikara had been one band from the very beginning.
