Sled Island presents: Japanese Breakfast with guests

Japanese Breakfast

As Japanese Breakfast, Michelle Zauner has spent the last six years perfecting a singular brand of shimmering, lo-fi pop and taking what was once a home-recording project to some of the biggest festival stages around the world.

Before Japanese Breakfast, the Korean-American from Eugene, Oregon cut her teeth fronting the underrated, Philadelphia-based emo band Little Big League. LBL released two albums in the early 2010s before a break from the band would inspire Zauner to do a month-long, song-a-day writing challenge. The resulting cassette, 2013’s June would lay the foundation for two more self-released tapes before making the jump to Yellow K Records for 2016’s Psychopomp.

If June is an artifact of an artist on the verge of something special, her 2017 sophomore album Soft Sounds from Another Planet is the fulfillment of that promise. Zauner has traded the hermetic sound of bedroom-produced cassettes for a sound more akin to the cosmos unfurling. Gossamer synths and sparkling guitars open into a genre-free expanse that manages to pull elements of krautrock, shoegaze, and Pacific Northwest indie pop into one concise package. This exploratory sound remains tethered to reality by Zauner’s unvarnished lyricism, as she tackles everything from the Asian-American experience to introspective looks at road head and body dysmorphia.

Still, anyone familiar with Japanese Breakfast knows it would be futile to discuss Zauner’s work without touching on her keen aesthetic sense that has made Japanese Breakfast just as much of a force visually as it is sonically. Two years removed from Soft Sounds and a newfound foray into directing, it’s clear that she is poised for a breakthrough. Increasingly, it seems that seeing Japanese Breakfast at 2019’s Sled Island may be your last chance to see Zauner before she’s filling arenas. 

Diamondtown
Comprised of members from both Eric’s Trip and Dog Days, Diamondtown is cozy and familiar, yet distinct in execution. The group takes timeless chord progressions and creates songs that travel beyond borders of genre and era. With lead guitar lines that dance atop a backbone of acoustic strums, Diamondtown creates soundscapes filled with precise harmonies and warm vocals, pushing beyond the folk-standards to offer sonic spaces all their own.

Bad Bodies
Occupying a floating tone unrooted in the ground, Bad Bodies create a welcoming sonic atmosphere through light groove and bright melody. Immediately convincing in their dream-soul approach, the group creates a sound stemming from a bevy of inspirations, from jazz to ‘60s R&B and bossa nova backdrops.

Bridal Party
Leaning into the everyday misgivings of trying to be a good person, Bridal Party elicit sheer joie de vivre in their soulful take on indie pop. As vocalist Suzannah Raudaschl sings on ‘Fruitless,’ “It’s so funny when your life’s a joke.” Get into the groove and enjoy the ride.

Dark Time
Formed in 2016, experimental synth-pop act Dark Time recently became a quintet, adding member of Astral Swans, Sleepkit and Tiny Shrine to the fray last year. Using elements of psych-folk and garage-pop, Dark Time takes the listener on a voyage with no obvious destination—understanding it’s the journey that they will remember most.

Vailhalen
Chris Vail cut his teeth in the early 2000s with art-pop experimentalists Shecky Forme and noise-rockers XL Birdsuit, but Vailhalen is where his pop instincts and subversive tendencies finally fused, along with a layer of new wave sheen. Revived after a decade’s hiatus, Vailhailen is here to unleash their pop violence once again.

Raeburn
Sentimental, breezy sadness with a blend of jazzy surf rock that will transport you to a place of smooth beaches and first kisses. Hailing from Saskatoon, Raeburn is the solo project of multi-instrumentalist, audio engineer and producer Maxwell Raeburn Warner. Contemplative chillwave that showcases well-crafted songwriting, Raeburn is a wander through multifaceted emotional waters.

Thomas Thomas
Thomas Thomas is the pinnacle of catchy retro pop and curated live visual experiences. Fronted by Thomas Englund and Shannon Thomas, their ‘60s pop influences blend nostalgic sensibilities with a modern flair. A live show full of buoyant energy, they’ve been known to throw a classic Ronettes cover into the mix, which only serves to reinforce their status as doo-wop pros.