On Record, They Melt into the Sound. Live, They Swim Through It: Seeing Sunameri Lucas for the Second Time
TsujiTakehiro
The show I attended was Before you say vol.3, held at Shindaita FEVER on August 27, 2026. Four bands performed that night, with Sunameri Lucas opening the show.
This was my second time seeing Sunameri Lucas live.
The first time I saw them, I already felt they were a band that could not be explained by the weightless atmosphere of shoegaze and dream pop alone. This performance made that impression even clearer. On record, Sunameri Lucas blend voice and instruments so closely that the boundaries between them almost disappear, forming a single body of sound. Live, each element takes on a more physical presence, revealing a different side of the band from song to song.
Who Are Sunameri Lucas?
Sunameri Lucas are a four-piece rock band based in Tokyo: Ma-mi (vocals/guitar), Shimmer Moon (guitar/backing vocals), CHAINSAW (bass), and Saori (drums). Their music retains the members’ different roots in shoegaze, alternative rock, indie rock, emo, and post-rock. Hearing these five songs back to back made the breadth of those influences easy to understand.
Official website: Sunameri Lucas
Instagram: Instagram
DIVE
The first song was “DIVE.”
Shimmer Moon’s delay-soaked guitar met Ma-mi’s softly floating vocals. Just as I settled into the sound, a heavily distorted guitar suddenly cut through. From the very first song, the contrast between softness and aggression hinted at another side of Sunameri Lucas.
On the recording, Ma-mi sounds as though she is blending into the band. Live, however, her voice rises out of the mix and carries a clear shape of its own.
If the recorded version of Sunameri Lucas lives as one with the sea, the live band swims gracefully through it. That was the difference I felt.
Summer Queen
The second song, “Summer Queen,” showed just how broad their musical range can be.
I have always thought of this song as Sunameri Lucas’s own take on Japanese rock. I was deeply into Japanese rock as a student, so it is also one of my personal favorites. If this song played over the ending of a TV drama or anime, I think it would make me fall for the whole series. One day, we may really hear their music coming from the television. This performance had enough force to make that feel possible.
In the chorus, the vocal harmonies—surely a favorite part for many Sunameri Lucas fans—rang out beautifully. Strangely, the song felt as though it were bringing back memories I had never actually lived. The scenery was unfamiliar, yet somehow nostalgic.
They carry a love for alternative and indie rock from the 1990s and 2000s, but rather than simply recreating it, they play it as their own sound in 2026. That approach may be what allows nostalgia and freshness to coexist in “Summer Queen.”
Senkai Wakusei (Orbiting Planet)
The third song, “Senkai Wakusei,” began with a blast of guitar feedback. A flanger-generated jet sound filled the venue, and the sheer resonance was enough to pull my whole body into it.
What stayed with me most was the progression from the bridge into the final chorus. CHAINSAW’s almost ominous bass and Shimmer Moon’s guitar were joined by Saori’s steadily repeating drums, building tension little by little. Then, in the final chorus, all of that pressure was released at once.
The song is not yet available on Spotify, so I was glad to discover another side of the band. Feeling the low end and feedback physically while sharing that tension and release with everyone in the same room is something that can only be experienced live.
Mujakina (Innocent)
The fourth song was “Mujakina.” Like “Senkai Wakusei,” it is not available on Spotify, though it can be heard on SoundCloud. This was also my first time hearing it. It suddenly reminded me of the film All About Lily Chou-Chou, and brought back the complicated feelings I had when I first watched it—feelings that are still difficult to put into words.
Although the sound contains elements of dream pop and shoegaze, the song does not force a particular emotion on the listener. Instead, it leaves room for each person to bring their own memories and feelings to it.
During this song, time seemed to move slowly inside the venue. It was not the kind of unity created by a huge burst of excitement. Instead, everyone seemed to remain quietly inside the same sound while thinking about something different. Even after the song ended, the audience appeared to stay with its afterglow for a while.
Rather than placing the vocals at the front, Sunameri Lucas treat the voice as another instrument within the band’s overall sound. The band has said this is one of the ideas they value. In “Mujakina,” the way the soft voice blended with the instruments created space for the listener.
Snowfall Morning
The final song was “Snowfall Morning.” For me, this is the first song that comes to mind when I think of Sunameri Lucas, and it is also my favorite.
The weightless guitar, the vocals melting into the music, and the band’s sound slowly spreading outward—this is a song that feels unmistakably like Sunameri Lucas. Like “DIVE,” it is also a song in which Ma-mi’s vocals give a very different impression live than they do on the recording.
On the recording, her voice sounds like a quiet, gentle whisper of love. It remains soft live, but beneath that softness I could feel a warmth I had not noticed from the recording alone. She does not need to shout for the feeling in her voice to reach the audience with real intensity.
The Strength Beneath the Beauty
Across these five songs, I realized that the appeal of Sunameri Lucas cannot be captured by describing their music as simply “delicate and beautiful.”
In “DIVE,” weightlessness collides with distortion. “Summer Queen” brings the accessibility of Japanese rock together with the band’s own sonic identity. “Senkai Wakusei” moves through tension and release, while “Mujakina” leaves room for the listener’s memories. And in “Snowfall Morning,” warmth came through from within the quiet vocals.
Each song has a different character, yet all of them sound unmistakably like Sunameri Lucas. Perhaps that is because the members, who come from different musical backgrounds, do not smooth out their individual qualities. They keep those differences intact while creating a single shared landscape.
Seeing them live for the second time, I felt that both their playing and their performance had steadily grown stronger. More than anything, the band felt more unified than before. They are developing a power that exists only onstage without losing the delicacy of their recordings.
I do not think it is an exaggeration to imagine them gaining attention not only in Japan, but around the world. This show was not about seeing a finished version of the band. It was about witnessing them in the middle of an ongoing change.
What will Sunameri Lucas sound like the next time I see them? I want to keep following their evolution.
Co-Founder & Editor, KAISHU VINYL
I'm a co-founder of KAISHU VINYL. I grew up in Kumamoto, played classical piano until I was fifteen, and spent my high school years playing in a band. Ever since, I've had a habit of taking music apart as I listen—not only the melody and arrangement, but also the culture, business, and circumstances that allowed it to exist. KAISHU VINYL began with a simple question: what happens if we choose Japanese records for the music itself, rather than starting with their rarity or market value? Maya brings the trained eye of someone who has handled records professionally. I approach them first as a listener, without checking the price, and think about what makes each one worth passing on. Here I write about Japanese music, both past and present: the records, live performances, and pop culture around them, as well as the industry that shapes what reaches listeners. I'm interested not only in why a song sounds the way it does, but in why it appeared when it did—and what it can still tell us now.
