Buffalo Daughter

From the 1990s onward, Buffalo Daughter have been a consistently inventive force in Japanese music. Though they’ve been associated with the Shibuya-kei scene — which was at its peak when the band emerged — their vibrant mix of funk, dub, no wave, electronic music, and noise is more eclectic and overtly experimental, with roots in the work of acts like Neu! and Kraftwerk. Buffalo Daughter’s genre-mashing style first made an international splash with 1996′s EP compilation Captain Vapour Athletes, which was released by Grand Royal, the Beastie Boys’ tastemaking label. From there, the group leaned into the different sides of their sound, honing their sleek motorik rhythms on 1998′s New Rock and adding orchestral and acoustic touches to 2002′s I. Though their output slowed in the 2010s, Buffalo Daughter proved they were as musically restless as ever with albums including 2010′s hip-hop-influenced The Weapons of Math Destruction and 2021′s kinetic and politically charged We Are the Times.
Prior to forming Buffalo Daughter, guitarist/vocalist SuGar Yoshinaga and bassist/vocalist Yumiko Ohno were members of the band Havana Exotica. Playing an electronically enhanced mix of dub and funk, the group released two albums on the Japanese indie label MIDI: 1991′s Yann Tomita-produced Odotte Bakari No Kun and the following year’s Hello! Martian!, which featured production by Pizzicato Five’s Yasuharu Konishi. After Havana Exotica disbanded, Yoshinada, Ohno, and turntablist/graphic designer MoOog Yamamoto formed Buffalo Daughter in 1993, choosing the name because of its association with strength as well as the project’s all-female lineup. The trio expanded on Havana Exotica’s eclectic approach, combining analog synth experiments with sampling and mixing. Buffalo Daughter’s debut EP, Shaggy Head Dressers, appeared on Japan’s Cardinal Records in 1994; another EP, Amoebae Sound System, followed on the label in 1995. That year, Luscious Jackson heard Buffalo Daughter while they were on tour in Japan, and sent copies of the EPs to their label Grand Royal, the imprint founded by Beastie Boys’ Mike D.
Buffalo Daughter soon signed a deal with Grand Royal and made their debut with the 1996 7″ Legend of the Yellow Buffalo. Later in the year, the collection Captain Vapour Athletes gathered the band’s EPs. Another EP, 1997′s Socks, Drugs, and Rock and Roll, preceded March 1998′s full-length New Rock. Recorded with a digital multi-track recorder instead of the analog tapes the band used for their previous releases, the album boasted a more streamlined sound and reached number 77 on Japan’s Oricon albums chart. Also in 1998, the trio collaborated with Delaware on the soundtrack to the video game Jungle Park. The remix EP WXBD, which featured contributions from Cornelius, Nardone, and Kut Masta Kurt appeared in 1999, but before Buffalo Daughter could ready another album, Grand Royal closed down. The trio moved to Emperor Norton for February 2002′s I, which featured more acoustic instrumentation and a greater focus on the music’s lyrics. Later that year, the Japan-only EP A Long Life Story of Miss Cro-Magnon collected remixes and covers of I’s songs. Buffalo Daughter recorded 2003′s Pshychic EP in ten days; also released only in Japan, it reached number 68 on the charts there.
The band returned with April 2006′s Euphorica, which featured vocals from all three members. Buffalo Daughter collaborated with Ami Suzuki on “O.K. Funky God,” a 2007 that also appeared on her album Connetta. After contributing a track to the soundtrack to the video game Katamari Forever in 2009, the trio issued July 2010′s The Weapons of Math Destruction, their first album to be released on their own Buffalo Ranch label. Bringing the hip-hop influences of their music to the fore, the set peaked at number 90 on the Oricon chart. In 2013, Buffalo Daughter celebrated their 20th anniversary with ReDiscoVer, a hand-picked collection that included remixes, live recordings, previously unreleased songs, and contributions from friends such as Beastie Boys’ Ad-Rock and Cornelius’ Keigo Oyamada. For July 2014′s Konjac-tion — which was sparked by a performance at the exhibition of artist Peter McDonald’s work at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa — the band collaborated with Kahimi Karie and Shintaro Sakamoto among others.
In 2021, Buffalo Daughter resurfaced after a seven-year absence with a remastered edition of Long Life Story of Miss Cro-Magnon as well as a new album. Stemming from improvised sessions with Masaya Nakahara of Violent Onsen Geisha and Hair Stylistics, September 2021′s We Are the Times combined the band’s playful style with reflections on the state of the world in the 2020s. ~ Heather Phares