Hi-Standard - Screaming Newborn Baby

Screaming Newborn Baby is the band's long-awaited follow-up to The Gift. Finally availableoutside of Japan, Screaming Newborn Babyseamlessly introduces new drummer Zax (TheBonez), moving the punk trio forward whilehonoring late drummer Tsune-chan's legacy.The six tracks on the EP include Hi-Standard'stake on Ben E. King's Stand By Me, The Mr. TExperience's Book of Revelation & tribute to theirfriend "Fat Mike."Formed in 1991, Hi-Standard is arguably the mostinfluential punk band to emerge from Japan,widely credited with pioneering the country'smelodic hardcore and skate punk scene. Singingprimarily in English, the trio-comprising AkihiroNamba, Ken Yokoyama, and the late Tsuneoka-caught the attention of NOFX's Fat Mike, whosigned them to Fat Wreck Chords and launchedthem onto global stages like the Vans WarpedTour. However, their domestic impact was evenmore profound; through their own label, Pizza ofDeath Records, and their self-created Air Jamfestival, they built the infrastructure of the modernJapanese punk scene. This grassroots empirehelped them famously sell over a million copies oftheir masterpiece, Making the Road, entirelyindependently.