rickrack1

Playing in a band as a teenager isn’t exactly a big deal. Don’t get us wrong though–when you’re in high school, playing a local battle of the bands is probably one of the most thrilling things you can do! But when it comes right down to it, there are tons of high school bands in the world, and most of them sound like, well, high school bands. Of course, there are exceptions, but we think it’s still fair to say that there aren’t too many bands that both sound good and can’t buy their own alcohol.

As you have probably guessed, today we’re showing you one of those notable exceptions. The Nara Prefecture three-piece rock band Rick Rack–and their lead singer/guitarist Serina–have absolutely blown us away with their energetic songwriting and catchy hooks. You’re sure to have a couple of these songs stuck in your head until the end of the week!

rickrack6

Ostensibly a girls rock band, Rick Rack’s awesomeness has nothing to do with their gender and everything to do with what happens when you get three exceptionally talented people in the same room and give them instruments.

With an average age of about 17.5, the band consists of three young women who sound like they’ve been playing together for decades–but it’s actually only been twelve months since the band formed. Nevertheless, Rick Rack won an honorable mention award at the regional level of the Music Revolution contest in Nara Prefecture last year, just a few weeks after the band official formed. And earlier this year, the trio took second place at the Juudai Hakusho Teen Talent Discovery Project contest–not bad for a band that should still be in diapers!

But enough about their accolades, you need to hear some of this for yourself! Here’s our favorite Rick Rack song “Ikusen no Deai to Hitotsu no Kiseki.”

For our money, that’s a radio single just waiting for a DJ to pick it up! A catchy chorus, driving rhythm, and great, fuzzy guitar riffs? Actually, you know what? Screw the radio, they’re ready for Summer Sonic! And if you don’t believe us, here’s a video of the trio playing another original song, “Kaze ni Osarete,” in Osaka Castle Park.

It’s a bit more mellow than “Ikusen no Deai to Hitotsu no Kiseki,” but it definitely had our toes tapping and our heads bobbing!

Finally, here is a video of Rick Rack playing “Yume Oi Baku” at Osaka Muse, a popular “live house” in the heart of Osaka. While the video is live, we’re pretty sure the music is actually a studio recording, but that doesn’t take anything away from how great the song is!

Though they’re still young, this trio is surprisingly active, with numerous shows scheduled over the summer. They’ve even recorded a three song mini-album, which you can get from their website using the contact form.

Frankly, we’re thoroughly impressed with how much these women have accomplished in such a short time–especially considering that two of them are still high school students! Serina, the guitarist and vocalist, and You, the bassist, are still only 17, while Natsuki, the drummer, is 19. And before you ask, no, we weren’t even getting our homework done when we were juniors in high school, let alone rocking in a kickass band!

▼Rick Rack, on the other hand…

https://twitter.com/RickRacksyn/status/463534237862215681/

But as impressive as this group is, it turns out that they have a bit of a secret weapon in Serina. Though she’s apparently devoting her time to Rick Rack now, the teen once garnered quite a bit of Internet fame for her YouTube music videos. Take, for example, this original song, “Toki no Tobira,” in which the teen plays every single instrument–including the shamisen! Oh, and she was in junior high school when it was uploaded to YouTube in 2012.

http://youtu.be/KNGppROqwtU

Now that you’ve picked your jaw up off the floor, how about another original song, “Shura no Kurenai,” in which Serina again plays all the instruments. She was 13 years old at the time of the recording–and had apparently only started learning the shamisen a year and a half previous.

http://youtu.be/teviH3n1nRo

Finally, here’s another original song by Serina called “Mata ne.” It’s a guitar-driven rock song with some stellar solos–and is also apparently the first time the young woman decided to add some vocals. You can clearly hear the seedling that would later become Rick Rack in this song, though we have to say that we kind of miss the shamisen!

▼Jeez, kid, leave something for the rest of us!

http://youtu.be/dOBy6BmALhI

With a band this young, there’s no telling where they’ll be in a few months, let alone a few years. But we’d hardly be surprised if they were touring the US with Lady Gaga soon.

If you liked the music in this post, please be sure to subscribe to the band’s channel on YouTube. For those of you living in the Kansai area, you still have a few chances to actually see these girls perform this summer. Don’t miss it or you’ll regret it when they’re playing sold-out shows in stadiums across the world!

References: Juudai Hakusho, Music Revolution, Rick Rack, Twitter, YouTube (Rick Rack), YouTube (Serina), Ameblo
Images: Rick Rack