Scandal

Japanese all-female rock band Scandal first took shape in Osaka, where four young musicians formed a spirited indie group devoted to anthemic punk rock with strong pop hooks. Their initial releases, the singles “Space Ranger” and “Koi Moyo,” circulated within that scene before the quartet reached a broader audience with the 2009 major-label album Best Scandal. Between that breakthrough and the 2014 release Hello World they placed one album inside the Oricon Top Five every year; the sequence reached its highest position yet when Yellow entered the chart at number one in 2016. Along the way the group extended its reach into animation and comics, supplying original songs to series such as Bleach and Fullmetal Alchemist and thereby attracting listeners outside Japan.

The lineup consists of Haruna Ono on guitar, Tomomi Ogawa on bass, Mami Sasazaki on guitar, and Rina Suzuki on drums. The four women first crossed paths in 2006 at an Osaka vocal-and-dance academy, soon afterward busking on city streets, then graduating to club stages. A performance in Shibuya earned them a joint contract with Kitty Records and Tower Records. Their debut single, “Space Ranger,” appeared in 2008 and sold out its physical pressing almost immediately, prompting a simultaneous digital release. Momentum from that success carried the band abroad at once: they joined the Japan Nite U.S. tour, performed at Sakura-Con in Seattle, and played additional concerts in France and Taiwan.

After two further independent singles reached the top of the indie charts, Scandal stepped up to a major deal with Epic Records. Doors throughout the entertainment industry opened: tracks from 2009 appeared in a film, a television program, a video-game soundtrack, a Judy and Mary tribute album, and—most prominently—the hit anime Bleach, whose exposure sent the single “ShoujoS” to number six. The group itself began appearing in national advertising, including a Nike campaign. With sufficient material accumulated, they issued their first proper full-length, Best Scandal, which debuted at number five on the Oricon chart even though most of its songs had already been released. Another anime favorite, Fullmetal Alchemist, adopted the single “Shunkan Sentimental” as a theme song.

Temptation Box, the follow-up album released in 2010, became their biggest seller to that point. From then on they maintained an annual release schedule—Baby Action in 2011, Queens Are Trumps in 2012, Standard in 2013, and Hello World in 2014—each album landing inside the Oricon Top Four. A 2015 compilation of greatest hits accompanied a world tour. Yellow, their seventh studio album, arrived in 2016 and yielded the Top Ten singles “Stamp!” and “Sisters.” Their eighth album, Honey, reached stores in 2018 and became their fifth Top Three release; promotion included an international trek that featured several dates across the United States.