Japan's high school rockers

Indie J-pop girl band SCANDAL rocked the house on two nights at this year's ACGHK 2008 (Anime, Comics and Games convention). Their performances made it hard to deny their claim of being 'the most powerful Japanese girlie pop rock'. The four young Osaka girls certainly know how to entertain a crowd.

The band members are Haruna Ono (guitar), Mami Sasazaki (guitar), Tomomi Ogawa (bass) and Rina Suzuki (drums). Leader of the band Haruna shares vocals with all the girls so they all get equal time in the limelight.

The girls answered flyers posted at dance and vocal schools in Osaka and Nagoya looking for band members. They came together in 2006 and started writing and playing their own songs.

They started off listening to contemporary J-pop dance music but since the band launched, started listening to western bands like Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The group started off playing gigs at local clubs and music venues in Osaka and Kyoto but soon got noticed elsewhere in Japan. Their big break came when they were invited to play at Shibuya Club Asia, a well respected Tokyo venue.

They were also invited onto a Tokyo radio show and asked to perform at a university festival. Their huge and almost unprecedented popularity, despite not yet having released a single, led to a recording contract with Tower Records.

In March, SCANDAL released their debut single, Space Ranger, to resounding success - it actually sold out across Japan. To meet fan demand, the single was eventually made available in the Japanese and US iTunes music store in April.