Shinsei Kamattechan frontman Noko is missing. His three bandmates, chatting with The Japan Times in an eerily silent karaoke booth in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, reckon he's ignoring his phone deliberately because he doesn't like interviews unless they're one on one. You might say he's somewhat volatile. Actually, that would be an understatement: He comes across as completely nuts.

"He thinks that if someone wants to interview him they should go to his house," laughs drummer Misako, despite the fact that, well, we've gone all the way to Kashiwa, the nearest city to the members' middle-of-nowhere homes, at their request. But in the unpredictable world of Shinsei Kamattechan, logic is a rare commodity.

Want another example? The band this week made their major-label debut with the album "Tsumanne" ("Boring") released by Warner Music Japan, and yet on the very same day, they also released another, darker album, "Minna Shine" ("Everyone Die"), via their management company's own independent label.