Aural Vampire

A product both of Tokyo's vibrant goth subculture and the city's underground dance music scene, synth pop duo Aural Vampire make up for their lack of chart success with a flamboyant stage presence that puts even their most image-obsessed J-pop contemporaries to shame. Frontwoman Exo-Chika -- a self-styled "vampire" who flaunts fangs in the band's videos and takes to the stage in Alexander McQueen-inspired haute goth couture -- first met songwriter/producer Raveman in high school, where the two became friends. The two bonded over a shared love of new wave, post-punk, '90s techn...