While the going's slow I want to take a moment to reflect on Shanghai pop-punk band Pinkberry.
Go here to listen to their first EP. Listen to the tracks marked Go! Boom!
After looking at some photos of their show this month at the Inmusic Festival at Zhangbei, I realized how far they'd come. The band is the brainchild of guitarist Toni Yu and singer Xiao You. Toni was the guitarist for old school punk band Mortal Fools. Xiao You is an ambitious and intelligent local girl who studies at Shanghai Film School and has an amazing voice on her.
I first blogged about them in September 2008 when they supported Old Doll at Yuyintang. And then went on to cover them as much as possible. Here's a brief selection:
This band started out by showing promise beyond the other new bands out at the same time. They then developed a set through a number of live appearances, breaking into support slots at higher profile shows. Then they rode out line up changes and a little controversy to sign with Zhu Lu He Feng and get their first CD out. Off the back of that, they've been playing the festival circuit this year.
This makes me happy. It bears out what should have been obvious to everyone: Toni can write songs and Xiao You has the voice and appeal to make it. They are now a Shanghai mainstay. Good job, everyone.
Hi Andy, I totally agree with you that that band has shown a nice jumpstart. And thanks for all the links, with that it was possible to follow up the history of the band quite nicely, as can be seen here: http://h1753510.stratoserver.net/w/Pinkberry