Japanese Television play instrumental “space-surf” music fusing krautrock’s motorik rhythms with psychedelic guitars.

This week I went to see one of my favourite bands, Japanese Television. They’re not Japanese though their excellent support band, who rejoiced in the very English name Barbican Estate, actually are Japanese.

The last time I saw the instrumental “space-surf” band with my friend David, he thought, initially, that I was inviting him to watch some amusingly sadistic TV from East Asia. Until I sent him a link to their music.

Thursday’s show, at the New River Studios, was arranged as a preview of their new album, completed hurriedly a few days earlier – probably because their bass guitarist, Eléa-May Bonnet, is seven months pregnant.

It looked like hard work for her and her huge bump in the non-air-conditioned venue, but the self-styled “UK’s number two space-surf band” (no, I don’t know who’s number one) were fantastic.

Before previewing most of the new album, they opened with this tune, Tabadaboum, an old favourite from their last one, Automata Exotica. 

It sets the tone for their signature style of motorik beats from drummer Kevin Barthelémy,  Tim Jones’s psychedelic surf guitar and the swirling Sixties-garage-band keyboards of Riko Fango – the father of Ms Bonnet’s baby – all of it drenched in reverb.

The band was formed in 2017 when members from various UK garage rock and psychedelic projects united over a shared love of bands like Can, Eno, Neu! and classic 60s surf guitars.

Here they are when I saw them with David Stubbs at MOTH club two years ago tomorrow.