The Pillows

Formed in Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost province, while most of their Tokyo peers chased the prevailing Seattle sound, the three-piece the Pillows bypassed the era's loud-soft formula in favor of a cleaner alternative-rock approach shaped by Simon & Garfunkel's folk-rock lyricism and the classic British pop lineage running from the Beatles through the Jam. Beyond Japan the group is chiefly recognized for supplying the soundtrack to the Gainax anime FLCL (pronounced "furi-kuri"). Their lasting influence on the domestic alternative scene is illustrated by a 2004 tribute album on which numerous Japanese pop and rock figures saluted their catalog.

The Pillows entered the market in 1991 with Moon Gold, yet their initial standing rested on an unrelenting national touring regimen whose vigor equaled the force of their stage shows. That momentum solidified when the 1996 single "Strange Chameleon" appeared, a track that endures as a cult staple for longtime followers. The 1997 breakthrough Please Mr. Lost Man arrived after the band signed with King Records, a move that also brought their live presentation to London.

A broader international profile emerged once their material was placed in the Gainax-produced FLCL, which reached American viewers in 2000. The series centers on twelve-year-old Naota and his encounters with a guitar-carrying woman who rides a Vespa; the Pillows contributed the original closing theme "Ride a Shooting Star." Their first U.S. concerts occurred in 2005 at the South by Southwest festival, after which they performed six dates that included appearances in New York and San Francisco as well as a Chicago anime convention drawing 4,000 attendees across two days. The domestic shift to Avex Trax yielded Wake Up! Wake Up! Wake Up! in 2007 and Pied Piper the following year, while the Geneon-issued My Foot reached American stores in summer 2006 and the band's overseas following produced tens of thousands of MySpace connections.