Biography
Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her began in New York in 1992 as a duo of Aiha Higurashi and Sachiko Ito, taking its name from an XTC composition. Along with other acts from their era, the group helped open doors for Japanese music across the United States and Europe. After Higurashi moved to Tokyo in 1994, the lineup that became most familiar took shape with her on guitar and vocals, Nao Koyama on bass, and Takeharu Karashima on drums.
Links to Cornelius’ Trattoria label, together with the U.S. profile achieved by contemporaries Fantastic Plastic Machine and Pizzicato Five, led many listeners to place the band within the Shibuya-kei orbit. Their actual sound, however, remained rooted more firmly in guitar rock, punk, and garage than in the neo-acoustic, bossa nova, French pop, and electronic combinations favored by many of those peers.
Throughout the band’s existence, Higurashi wrote all lyrics in English, often delivering unusually direct accounts of sexual dynamics within relationships. Early recordings reflected garage-punk influences drawn from the New York Dolls and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. The 1996 debut album Give Them Back to Me presented 19 tracks across nearly sixty minutes and introduced wider experimentation. That emphasis grew on the next two releases, Pink Soda and It’s Brand New, yet 1998’s 17 reversed course by returning to a sparse, emotionally exposed minimalism.
Karashima had exited before the 2001 album No! No! No!. The same year’s Future or No Future brought in selected Shibuya-kei ingredients—whispered harmonies, guitar-pop melodies, and Moog synthesizers—while the group’s garage-rock foundation stayed intact. Two compilations appeared in 2002: Dying for Seagulls in Japan and Red Talk on the British label Cherry Red. By then the band was dissolving and split up shortly afterward.
Higurashi has stayed active since, writing songs for Japanese pop singer Yuki, issuing solo albums in 2004 and 2005, and later forming the group Loves. Koyama has worked as an illustrator while playing bass with In Corridors.
Links to Cornelius’ Trattoria label, together with the U.S. profile achieved by contemporaries Fantastic Plastic Machine and Pizzicato Five, led many listeners to place the band within the Shibuya-kei orbit. Their actual sound, however, remained rooted more firmly in guitar rock, punk, and garage than in the neo-acoustic, bossa nova, French pop, and electronic combinations favored by many of those peers.
Throughout the band’s existence, Higurashi wrote all lyrics in English, often delivering unusually direct accounts of sexual dynamics within relationships. Early recordings reflected garage-punk influences drawn from the New York Dolls and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. The 1996 debut album Give Them Back to Me presented 19 tracks across nearly sixty minutes and introduced wider experimentation. That emphasis grew on the next two releases, Pink Soda and It’s Brand New, yet 1998’s 17 reversed course by returning to a sparse, emotionally exposed minimalism.
Karashima had exited before the 2001 album No! No! No!. The same year’s Future or No Future brought in selected Shibuya-kei ingredients—whispered harmonies, guitar-pop melodies, and Moog synthesizers—while the group’s garage-rock foundation stayed intact. Two compilations appeared in 2002: Dying for Seagulls in Japan and Red Talk on the British label Cherry Red. By then the band was dissolving and split up shortly afterward.
Higurashi has stayed active since, writing songs for Japanese pop singer Yuki, issuing solo albums in 2004 and 2005, and later forming the group Loves. Koyama has worked as an illustrator while playing bass with In Corridors.