Walk into any "live house" in Tokyo, and unless you are still hitting your college textbooks or just exiting puberty, you are apt to be the oldest person there.

Unlike New York or London, Tokyo's twenty- and thirtysomethings tend to shed their youthful enthusiasms the minute they hit the working world. Though one might see an occasional person beyond late adolescence (usually uncomfortably tugging at his tie as he tries to recover the musical glory of his youth), for the most part, rock 'n' roll in Tokyo is for the young.

Which is one reason that Blue Movee is so refreshing. The members of the all-female foursome are, according to vocalist Yoko Utsumi, "well over 30." Though rock 'n' roll may mainly be the arena of the young, Blue Movee proves that rocking out is not.

Blue Movee makes power-packed punk rock with a touch of eccentricity to keep it interesting.

"Fun, dumb and loud" is how Utsumi describes it. The sound is a little darker than most Japanese punk bands, however, more in the vein of California's Black Flag/SST-style punk than the English or New York versions.

Though the group has up until now kept a low profile, playing one gig a month in Shimokitazawa's live houses, the members have a musical pedigree akin to an indie supergroup.

"Yeah," says Utsumi, referring to the group's inspired musical chaos, "we look like a supergroup on paper, but we don't sound like a supergroup."

Bass player Shinobu Kawaii was formerly a member of Super Junky Monkey, one of Japan's most lauded indie bands. Guitarist Mitsuwa Sakamoto is also a veteran of several well-known groups including the seminal Tokyo punk/new wave group Tokyo Bravo (with rap star Takagi Kan) and producer S-Ken's former band, while drummer Ukon-chan had two major label releases with the group Jamic Spoon.

The punk attitude of Blue Movee is a return to form for Utsumi. Originally lead singer for Osaka psychedelic/garage pioneers Mescaline Drive, Utsumi found herself singing something rather different when the band joined with another Osaka group to form Soul Flower Union. Soul Flower Union's highly politicized fusion of '60s-style rock and traditional Japanese- and Okinawan-flavored music was a far cry from Mescaline Drive's "junk punk."

With Blue Movee, Utsumi and company have created something a little rawer and a lot more dynamic than Soul Flower Union, whose fusion experiments sometimes resembled the worst bits of a WOMAD concert.

"We are aiming for something loud and fun, maybe not sonically loud, but strong," explains Utsumi. "Everything in Soul Flower Union sounded calculated; every line had to sound the same. I had to sing in the same tone in the same sort of voice at every show. We weren't like that at the beginning but that's how it ended up. There was no spark at our shows. I want Blue Movee to sound live, not clean and clear."

A recent live recording has Blue Movee living up to her expectations. The sound is cacophonic with a heavy, loose wildness pumped up by Kawaii's meaty bass and Utsumi's screeching, howling vocals.

The vocal style will also come as a surprise for those more used to Utsumi's tamer work in Soul Flower Union. Like UA, another Osaka native, Utsumi has a deep, husky voice and a commanding stage presence. Though Blue Movee undoubtedly offers a good time, in an era when soulful singers are eating up the charts, it seems a bit bizarre to find Utsumi, a singer who could easily follow in the footsteps of UA or Misia, fronting a punk band.

"I had forgotten how to sing like a punk because we did so much Japanese and Okinawan music with Soul Flower Union," says Utsumi. "I wasn't uncomfortable playing more traditional music but sometimes it went too far.

"I would like to sing soul music, stuff that is really trendy in the Japanese music scene, but I guess I can do that later. Right now, I'm into doing something a little weird."

That aptly describes what might become Blue Movee's sonic calling card, a cover of the Dead Kennedys "Too Drunk to F**k." Replacing the original lyrics with completely different Japanese ones, they have transformed the punk anthem into a soulful, shadowy dirge (it's the closest one gets to hearing Utsumi's full vocal potential).

After the rather unpleasant break with Soul Flower Union, the Dead Kennedys became a sort of balm for Utsumi.

"Last year I saw a lot of bands," she says, "but some of them sounded uncomfortable to me. At times when I came home, I needed to listen to something else to clear my head and I always ended up listening to the Dead Kennedys.

"I wanted to do something by the Dead Kennedys but 'Holiday in Cambodia' was too hard so we opted for 'Too Drunk to F**k,' " she explains.

Loud, dumb and mature seem like an incongruous combination, but the Dead Kennedys, carrying the punk banner into their third decade, might be good role models indeed. Youngsters may be burning up the stage, but Blue Movee proves that there is room for grownups.