Mixing music and politics is always tricky. While it sometimes results in great art (e.g. Bob Dylan's pacifist tirade "Masters of War"), often the music is ruined by too much didacticism (John Lennon's "Some Time in New York City" is a prime example).
But a new band with the unlikely name of the Japonesian Balls Foundation has managed to strike a balance between agitprop and entertainment. The group's debut album, "Azadi" (due out May 22 on Tokyo-based independent label Respect Record), is full of great rock 'n' roll songs with a satirical bite. Take "Japonesian Diary" (based on Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues"):
"Worrisome neighbor, weird neighbor, patrons at the bank, strangers in the park/Politicians, medical board, moneylenders, kabuki dancers and sokaiya, scholars, the mafia and the homeless/Military fanatics and brand-worshippers, brown-haired girls who won't play with us/We're surfing buddies with Christian and Shinto priests, wow, even though we take note of all religions."
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