A "vamp" is a woman who seduces or beguiles by using feminine charms, according to my dictionary. It's also the name of a new magazine that promotes underground Japanese bands, preferably if the band members are equipped with guitars, boobs and cute pouts rather than guitars, biceps and bad chat-up lines.
"Japanese girls are often too dependent on men. I'm interested in girls who take up rock and art and feminism and go out and cast a spell on you," says Ayumi Tsubouchi, Vamp's founder. "I was inspired to do Vamp by the Riot Grrrls (early '90s fem-punk movement). In Japan there isn't a magazine about female artists, except for idol girls, so Vamp aims to inform girls about what's going on in music and encourage them to participate, too."
I ask her how come a couple of all-boy bands appear in the latest issue.