When one thinks of Japanese punk, exotic locales like the hard-hitting streets of Osaka come to mind. Well think again, gaijin. Turns out the Valley's got its own J-punk band called Toybox and they're releasing a brand-spankin' new album called Stay Alive tomorrow at Big Fish Pub.
Following up on the the band's debut album 5 Seconds To..., Stay Alive has a much tighter feel, or so Toybox says.
"We are fun-loving people but when it comes to writing songs, we are very picky," Toybox said. "Sometimes it takes hours to decide simply how to play four bars."
As the band is completely made up of transplants from various parts of Japan, Toybox's songs switch between Japanese and English.
"We have songs sung mostly in English with occasional Japanese parts; like Sublime does with English and Spanish," they said.
Tomorrow's show at Big Fish Pub kicks off Toybox's North American tour which will continue through Texas, New Mexico, Georgia, and Alabama. The band will also perform tomorrow at Fujiya Market on Priest and University in Tempe at 2 p.m.