angel face

I hate it when I hear people bemoan the current state of Rock ‘n’ Roll – “there’s no good bands anymore”…”there’s no venues hosting bands”…. These people aren’t trying hard enough. There’s so many great bands, artists and records out there and it’s really not too difficult to find them.

In 2025 I found plenty to love and there’s way too many records that have eluded me. But of the stuff that I spent quality time with these are my picks.

Wild Tokyo punks Angel Face, are headliners of the nearly sold-out Half-Baked #2 show with The Breadmakers at The Gem in Collingwood on November 21. They’ve now added two more Victorian shows to their brief tour: November 19 at The Vineyard in St Kilda and November 20 at The Social Club in Balnarring.

Angel Face is the latest band for Fink, guitarist and iconic figure on the Japanese garage-punk scene and formerly of the legendary Teengenerate. He’s joined by bass player Toyozo (who appeared at Half-Baked #1 with Tokyo's fuzzed-out '60s styled garage-punkers The Fadeaways), wild woman skins basher Rayco and a freak who calls himself Hercules up front (and sometimes handcuffed to the microphone.)

Angel Face has two albums on US label Slovenly Recordings - one of which is reviewed here - with a special limited edition tour LP , “Home To Roost”, being sold exclusively at shows.

The Barman cornered Fink by email this week and posed some questions. Here’s the result.

_{Angel Face.} 

Melbourne’s most excellent rocking throwbacks The Breadmakers are celebrating their 37th birthday with a gig titled "Half Baked" and have once again sent out a call to their favourite bands from around the world and across the country to join them. Top of the Breadmakers wish list were wild punks from Tokyo, Angel Face, whose stage show blew The Breadies away when they played with them in Japan two years ago.

Angel Face are the latest band for legendary ex-Teengenerate guitarist and iconic figure on the Japanese garage-punk scene. Fink. The band also features bass player Toyozo (The Fadeeaways), singer Hercules and wild woman skins basher Rayco.

The Breadmakers will take over The GEM in Collingwood, Melbourne, on November 21 for "Half Baked" and limited tickets are on sale here. Be warned: Last year's "Half Baked" sold out in three days.

Angel Face will be packing a new limited-edition Australia-only LP, “Home To Roost”. The bill includes Homemade Space Machine, DJs and a mystery act whose identity remains a closely guarded secret.

Free catering will be by Japanese restaurant Chotto Moto and every ticket holder takes home a free piece of vinyl (7” or LP) or CD of their choice from a selection of giveaways on hand.

Out In The Street – Angel Face (Slovenly Recordings)

Catchier than the Tokyo subway, “Out In The Street” is the second album for Tokyo’s Angel Face, and any fan of Real Kids or The Boysneeds a copy – pronto. It’s 10 songs of no-nonsense, melodic street punk that the world deserves to hear.

I caught these guys in the flesh at the Tokyo Halloween Ball a couple of years ago and they were impressive over a weekend that delivered an embarrassment of riches. That may have been one of their earliest gigs because Angel Face have only been around a few years.

They’ve already put another long-player, a European festival date and a short US tour under their belts. Hercules (vocals), Fink (guitar), Toyozo(bass) and Rayco(drums) have the Japanese work ethic and their productivity would put most of their overseas contemporaries in a cardiac ward.