It may seem rhetorical to start a review by talking about the charm and difficulty of decoding certain dynamics of Japanese culture for those who, despite decades of reading manga and books on Zen spirituality, engage with it. For me, the Japanese music scene has always been difficult to map: apart from the bands that are also released by foreign labels (Yellow Magic Orchestra and its members, Zeni Geva, Teengenerate, The 5.6.7.8's, and Shonen Knife are the first that come to mind), the other myriad bands are unknown to me. Spittle, with their new sub-label Spittle Made In Japan, will try to give prominence to the post-punk and wave scene of the Land of the Rising Sun with vinyl reissues, focusing on the 80s. The first release arrives these days and is the reissue of the first LP by the Schedars. Printed in 2023, the self-titled album by the Schedars was self-produced by them in LP and is now reissued with an extra track. The band is active in the Tokyo scene and consists of singer and keyboardist Sio, guitarist Enrike Kkai ji, saxophonist KMDR, bassist TAN, and drummer Ktr. Listening to the only tracks from the new version of their debut, the first thing that catches the "ear" are their sound references, namely the entire New York scene of the late '70s centered around the groups included in the compilation "No New York" (James Chance's The Contortions, Mars, Arto Lindsay's DNA, and Lydia Lunch's Teenage Jesus And The Jerks). The Tokyo band blends all four groups with their characteristic edginess and experimental expressiveness (see the dissonant use of guitar and sax), including here and there moments where those edges are smoothed out (as in "Shameless Display," an almost easy listening track with funky bass and flute interventions). The tracks rarely reach three minutes and highlight the energy and freshness of their sound. Despite the decidedly derivative sound, I liked the album, and since the last two tracks that close the album (the aforementioned track and the unreleased "Stroll") show a softer side, but always with a certain transversal attitude, who knows if these may indicate a new side of the future sound of the Schedars.