It might be the right time for the 54 Nude Honeys, but it's the wrong place and they've decided to do something about it. In September, they're jumping on a plane and decamping to New York, where the American music-media have stepped into line with their British brethren and realized that the current garage-rock revival is the kind of shot in the arm that rock 'n' roll has desperately needed since the demise of Kurt Cobain. And, unlike in the pathetic, punklite-loving Japanese press, the U.S. music media are devoting column inches to inform the kids about it.

But the Honeys are not moving to a town where it's all happening just to jump on the garage-rock bandwagon. They've already got two classic garage-rock albums tucked into their studded leather belts -- 1999's flawless "Drop the Gun" and 2001's almost-as-ace "Snake & Queen." The latest record, "54 Nude Honeys," is released here Wednesday and it easily lives up to the stratospheric standards the band has set for itself.

But the Honeys -- who got their name from a pack of nude-girlie playing cards popular among U.S. forces during World War II -- don't seem to be thinking of their emigration as a career move. "We recorded the new album in Manhattan in March at Kampo Studios -- where our Japanese friend works as an engineer -- and we fell in love with the city," says bassist and band leader Vivi at an izakaya in Ebisu.