Kero Kero Bonito (KKB) are a British

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

band formed in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 2013. The band consists of vocalist

Sarah Midori Perry Sarah Midori Perry (Japanese: ペリーセーラ緑, ''Perī Sēra Midori'') is a British-Japanese musician who is the lead vocalist of London-based indie pop band Kero Kero Bonito. She also sings as Sarah Bonito and DJs/performs as Cryalot. E ...

and producers and multi-instrumentalists Gus Lobban and Jamie Bulled. Their musical style consists of indie pop,

electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

dance-rock Dance-rock is a dance- infused genre of rock music. It is a post-disco genre connected with pop rock and post-punk with fewer rhythm and blues influences. It originated in the early 1980s, following the decline in popularity of both punk and dis ...

hyperpop Hyperpop (sometimes called bubblegum bass) is a loosely defined electronic music movement and microgenre that predominantly originated during the early 2010s in the United Kingdom. It is characterised by an exaggerated or maximalist take on p ...

, and

bubblegum pop Bubblegum (also called bubblegum pop) is pop music in a catchy and upbeat style that is marketed for children and adolescents. The term also refers to a more specific rock and pop subgenre, originating in the United States in the late 1960s, th ...

. The band's earlier work was influenced by

J-pop J-pop (often stylized in all caps; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in trad ...

such as

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu , known professionally as Kyary Pamyu Pamyu (Hiragana: ), is a Japanese singer, model and tarento. Her public image is associated with Japan's ''kawaii'' and ''decora (style), decora'' culture, centered in the Harajuku neighborhood of Tokyo. Ky ...

, as well as

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

, and

video game music Video game music (VGM) is the soundtrack that accompanies video games. Early video game music was once limited to sounds of early sound chips, such as programmable sound generators (PSG) or FM synthesis chips. These limitations have led to t ...

; however, following their 2018 EP ''

TOTEP ''TOTEP'' (erroneously spelled out on the spine of some physical releases as ''The One True EP'') is the third extended play by British band Kero Kero Bonito, self-released on 20 February 2018. The EP marks a departure from the "sunny" electropo ...

'' their sound and influences diversified, with their second studio album, ''

Time 'n' Place ''Time 'n' Place'' is the second studio album by British indie pop band Kero Kero Bonito, released on 1 October 2018 through Polyvinyl Record Co in North America and self-released worldwide. It is their first album released under Polyvinyl. Produc ...

'', being influenced by

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

contemporaries such as

Mount Eerie Mount Eerie is the musical project of American songwriter and producer Phil Elverum. Elverum (also of the Microphones) is the principal member of the band, but has collaborated with many other musicians on his records and in live performances. ...

and My Bloody Valentine. Perry, who is of mixed Japanese and British ancestry, sings and raps in both Japanese and English.

History

Lobban and Bulled grew up in

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

in the suburbs south of London and met in their teens. In search for a new band member, they posted advertisements, including on MixB, an online bulletin board for Japanese expatriates, largely due to their interest in "

Japanese rap Japanese hip hop is hip hop music from Japan. It is said to have begun when Hiroshi Fujiwara returned to Japan and started playing hip hop records in the early 1980s. Japanese hip hop tends to be most directly influenced by old school hip hop, t ...

". Perry was one of the first respondents. They selected her based on her background in art, and their interest in her bilingual ability. Although she had collaborated with a Japanese girl group previously, Perry did not have a background in professional singing; instead, she was interested in collaborating with Lobban and Bulled simply because she "wanted to try it". The trio called themselves ''Kero Kero Bonito''; its meaning is intentionally ambiguous, with one derivation from the Japanese onomatopoeic words for frog croaks and a type of fish. Other meanings include the Brazilian ''quero-quero'' bird while "bonito" means "pretty" in both Portuguese and Spanish, thus "Pretty Quero-quero" – or even "I want, I want pretty" in a rough translation. The group released their debut mixtape ''

Intro Bonito ''Intro Bonito'' is the debut mixtape by British indie pop band Kero Kero Bonito. It was self-released by the band on 30 September 2013, followed by a reissue on 25 August 2014 by Double Denim Records. It was promoted by the singles "Homework" an ...

'' through

Double Denim Records Double Denim Records is an English independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized e ...

in August 2014. They wrote many of their songs featured on the mixtape using a

Casio is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturing corporation headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Its products include calculators, mobile phones, digital cameras, electronic musical instruments, and analogue and digital watches. It ...

SA-46 mini-keyboard. The band contributed "Flamingo" to

Ryan Hemsworth Ryan Hemsworth (born 23 April 1990) is a Canadian record producer and DJ. He specialises in electronic music and sampling. He has produced tracks for Tinashe, Tory Lanez, Mitski, and E-40. Biography Raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Hemsworth a ...

's compilation EP ''shh#ffb6c1''. In September 2014, Kero Kero Bonito released ''Bonito Recycling'', a compilation of ''Intro Bonito'' remixes by artists including

Danny L Harle Daniel Jack Eisner Harle (born 25 September 1989) is a British music producer and composer who records under the name Danny L Harle. He was formerly signed to the London-based PC Music label and is a member of Dux Content with A. G. Cook. He h ...

and Spazzkid. The band released the single "Build It Up", on which Perry sings in a call and response pattern, in November 2014. On 10 August 2015, Kero Kero Bonito announced their first North American tour, which took place during October 2015. On 21 October 2016, the group released their first album ''

Bonito Generation ''Bonito Generation'' is the debut studio album by British indie pop band Kero Kero Bonito. A follow-up to the 2013 mixtape, ''Intro Bonito'', this album was released via Double Denim Records on 21 October 2016. ''Bonito Generation'' produced six ...

'' through Double Denim. On 2 February 2017, the

YouTuber A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

Berd published a parody animation of the band's single "Flamingo". The video went

viral The word ''Viral'' means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). It may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spre ...

, and became an

internet meme An Internet meme, or meme (, Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''MEEM''), is a cultural item (such as an idea, behavior, or style) that spreads across the Internet, primarily through Social media, social media platforms. Internet memes manif ...

, surpassing 25 million views as of April 2023. On 12 February 2018, the band released the single "Only Acting". It departs from the band's previous electronic sound with a darker, rock-influenced style. Later, on 20 February 2018, the band released the EP ''TOTEP''. The EP included "Only Acting", and other songs following the rock-influenced style. On 13 April 2018, the band performed their first 'full band' show. This involved two extra members, James Rowland on electric guitar and Jennifer Walton on drums and sampler, as well as Lobban on drums and keyboards and Bulled on bass guitar. Rowland previously played guitar on ''TOTEP''. This change in live line-up reflected their change in sound following the EP. On 8 May 2018, the band released the single, "Time Today", and announced their second studio album, ''

'', which was released on 1 October 2018. The album was sonically a significant departure from their previous studio album, and was inspired by radical changes in the band's personal lives following their tour cycle for their debut album. On 8 July 2019, the band uploaded "KKB Life" to

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

, a vlog video recorded during the ''Time 'n' Place'' era, announcing that a new era is starting. They announced a North America and Europe tour shortly after and released the single "When the Fires Come" in September 2019. Later on in the month, before the tour started, they also released their fourth EP '' Civilisation I''. In 2020, the band wrote and performed "It's Bugsnax!", the theme song for the video game ''

Bugsnax ''Bugsnax'' is an adventure video game developed by independent Chicago-based developer Young Horses. In the game, players explore a mysterious island and attempt to find and capture the eponymous insectoid food creatures. The game was unveile ...

'', which was featured in its announcement trailer. In April 2021, Kero Kero Bonito released their fifth EP, ''

Civilisation II ''Civilisation II'' is the fifth extended play (EP) by British indie pop band Kero Kero Bonito, released on 21 April 2021 by Polyvinyl. The follow-up to 2019's '' Civilisation I'' EP, ''Civilisation II'' was preceded by the single "The Princess a ...

''. In September 2021, Kero Kero Bonito released "Rom Com 2021", a remix of

Soccer Mommy Sophia Regina Allison (born May 27, 1997), better known by her stage name Soccer Mommy, is an American singer-songwriter from Nashville, Tennessee. She has four studio albums to her name; her latest album, ''Evergreen'', was released on October ...

's single "Rom Com 2004". The song was released under the 23rd instalment of

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representativ ...

and s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

's Singles Series. In August 2023, the band released "Legendary", the official theme song for the

Pokémon World Championships The Pokémon World Championships is an invite-only esports event organized by Play! Pokémon. It is held annually in August and features games from the ''Pokémon'' series such as the ''Pokémon'' video games, ''Pokémon Trading Card Game'', ''P ...

Band members

* Sarah Bonito – lead vocals, keyboards * Gus Lobban – production, drums, keyboards, backing vocals * Jamie Bulled – production, keyboards, bass guitar

Discography

Studio albums *''

'' (2016) *''

'' (2018) Mixtapes * ''

'' (2013) Extended plays * ''Bonito Recycling'' (2014) * ''Bonito Retakes'' (2017) * ''

'' (2018) * '' Civilisation I'' (2019) * ''

'' (2021)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Pop music groups from London Musical groups established in 2013 2013 establishments in England Polyvinyl Record Co. artists Sony Music Entertainment Japan artists PC Music artists Art pop groups English dance-rock musical groups British electropop groups English indie pop groups Hyperpop musicians