Let’s face it - Japan has benefited American culture in countless ways. Trendy hipsters and celebutantes would perish without sushi; kids and gamers would be lost without PS2; and anime experts would just be plain old cartoon watchers.  Now, Americans’ ears are about to benefit in the music department as well. Enter Polysics, a frenetic, high-energy new wave band born out of the awe-inspiring stimulation of Tokyo, Japan.

In his high school days, founding member Hiroyuki Hayashi, better known as Hiro, discovered a band that would change his life forever. Devo would be his inspiration through and through.  “I was watching Devo’s music video clips and I was shocked by it,” Hiro recalls. “That impact totally overturned the value of the music I had been listening to until then. Devo was dressed in matching yellow jumpsuits, moving around the stage looking like broken robots, and shouting a crazy cover of “Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones in a mechanical motion.  I thought it was so much more punk than just acting like a gang by greasing one’s hair. I was so impressed, and I thought, ‘I want to do new wave punk dressed in a jumpsuit like Devo!’”  And in 1998 that’s exactly what Hiro did.

Initially, the group, which was named after the “Polysix” model of his first KORG synthesizer, was off to a rocky start as a three-piece comprised of two keyboards, a guitar, and vocals set against a pre-recorded drum track on cassette.  “We have experienced a lot of member changes since,” Hiro explains. “Our keyboardists would quit the band one after another after every time we had a gig – literary.”

Hiro needed to reconfigure Polysics.  He gathered his former classmate and keyboardist Kayo, garage band guitarist friend Fumi, and, after the original drummer left, Yano was able to complete the animated lineup of Polysics. In addition to their signature synth-driven sound, their identity would be shaped by their unique stage costumes and vocal style “space language.”

“I don’t really remember reading lyrics while listening to rock music [growing up], and it was exciting enough to me to just listen to the guitar riffs, voice, drum performance, etc.,” Hiro says of inventing the language. “Also, I did not have any particular messages that I wanted to convey to people through my lyrics, so I just wanted the audience to listen to the music of Polysics in the same way I was listening to music then.”

Over the course of nearly a decade, Polysics have built an impressive discography.  Albums such as 1st P, A.D.S.R.M., NEU, and ENO were met with incredible acclaim. For Young Electric Pop, and 2003’s National P fed the hunger of the group’s exponentially growing fanbase, and the boisterous foursome’s hyper-energetic live shows worked in tandem to garner them a massive loyal following in their native Japan as well as the United States.

Two years ago, everyone’s friend and MySpace founder Tom Anderson was struck by Polysics’s action-character appeal and approached the band after a Los Angeles, CA show.  He signed them to his label, MySpace Records, which released the definitive Polysics compilation POLYSICS OR DIE!!!! VISTA in October 2007. This title went on to become their best selling US release and continues to enroll new fans every week.

For 2008, the band has not one but two US releases slated! In August, MySpace Records couples the band’s Japan-only 2007 release Karate House with their new 2008 release We Ate The Machine into one limited edition double gatefold vinyl release. This will set the stage for the late September release of We Ate The Machine on CD as well as digitally. On that same date, Karate House will be released digitally for all of North America.

Last year Polysics wowed boys and girls across America in support of Hellogoodbye and Say Anything on the first-ever MySpace Music Tour. This year, the band will hope to draw out new and old fans alike as they tour North America throughout October in support of We Ate The Machine.

It’s been a whirlwind decade for Polysics, and there’s still so much to do.  The quartet is bringing new wave back, breaking down musical barriers, and reviving dance-filled rock shows across the U.S.  Sure, they may be speaking another language altogether, but with their undeniable energy and immense sound, nothing can get lost in translation.