Coco Lee (
Since releasing its first album late last year, the group of four classmates at Taichung's Providence University has become one of Taiwan's top-selling indie bands, racking up sales of around 5,000 CDs.
Reached at a friend's house in Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, New York, the band's bass player and vocalist Allen Liu (劉培倫) said that their coolest stateside gig so far came last Saturday when they played for a bunch of "anarchists and socialists" as part of the Hardcore Punk Matinee at ABC No Rio, a club on Manhattan's Lower East Side.
PHOTO COURTESY OF TRA
"We only got to play for about 20 minutes," said Liu, "and most of the people just kind of stood and watched, because they didn't really know us. But it was still fun."
What impressed Liu and other band members most was seeing other bands, both at ABC No Rio and the next night as spectators at CBGB's, the 27-year-old venue known as the seedbed of New York's punk scene.
"Technically, the bands were all so good. It was like they were all professionals," said Liu. "And the slam dancing, it was ? you know, terrifying."
For Anarchy, this American rock odyssey began earlier this year with the group's participation in the "Say Yes to Taiwan" movement, a series of concerts involving DPP sponsorship and supporting Taiwanese identity. Upon writing the theme song, Anarchy became both the movement's poster children and its ambassadors. While playing at a March 18 demonstration in front of the Presidential Palace, the band was noticed by members of the Taiwan Association of America (
Taiwan's last garage band to pull off such an American tour was Ladybug (
Though Anarchy hasn't managed to swing their way into such high powered lineups ? their most famous stage partners so far have been local New York talent like What Happens Next? and Viper Fantastic ? they have managed to learn a few things from their stint in America's little big time.
Humility is chief among them. "After seeing all these awesome bands, we just think we suck," said Liu, with a touch of self-deprecating irony.
If only Coco Lee were as honest.
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