The December issue of Spin–featuring fetching (and pregnant!) freshly minted Grammy nominee M.I.A. on the cover–sports a write-up of the self-titled debut from Costa Mesa's Japanese Motors, in the mag's micro-mini album review section.
It's a positive (if not a bit cheeky; the band is dubbed “boarding brosefs”) review, too, bringing up the seemingly obligatory Strokes comparisons and awarding three (out of five) stars–though it's rather rare to see anything get lower than two and a half stars on there, so it might not be that much of an accomplishment. The conclusion: “A good time, if not a terribly memorable one.” Fair enough. The 100-word review also manages to work in a reference to the beloved Detroit Bar, where Japanese Motors just played last month. Here's the full review.
This is just the latest praise for the band, who signed with Vice earlier this year and released their record in October. They received a couple of nice mentions in Pitchfork, and of course have been written about by us, too. Those crazing more JapMo action can check out this recent live performance from Portland; they're not playing any local shows–or anywhere in the country, for that matter–anytime soon, so this will have to suffice.
