Kaisoku Tokyo pride themselves on blazing through their setlist so fast that you can almost see smoke rising off their instruments when they¡¯re done. Combining the terse punk power of Melt-Banana with the bounciness of Polysics, their supercharged performances last around 15 minutes (with most songs clocking in at just over the one-minute mark) but pack such a punch that they leave audiences sprawling in a sweaty mess on the floor. This may sound like your typical hardcore act, but the band says the reality is different.

¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯re hardcore,¡± says vocalist Tetsumaru Fukuda. ¡°To the bitter end we¡¯re a rock and pop band. It¡¯s just that we¡¯re fast and noisy. If you listen to fast and loud music for a long time you get tired, if you play it you get tired too. So I wanted to try making short songs.¡±

Part of the freshness of Kaisoku Tokyo¡¯s sound comes from the fact that the band is not mimicking any particular artist. ¡°All our members like different artists, so we aren¡¯t influenced by anyone in particular. I¡¯m really the only one who loves Rage Against the Machine and Michael Jackson.¡±

Onstage the band leaps around, with Fukuda often making it several feet up in the air. ¡°I think we have more fun than anyone else. We put our heart and soul into it. We do our best to look good.

¡°I like bands who look like cartoon characters. How shall I put it . . . almost ¡®superhuman¡¯ bands. Kiss and Michael Jackson are like that. I want to perform gigs like that.¡±

Kaisoku Tokyo play Shelter in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo, on March 12 (midnight, ?1,300 (adv.); [03] 3466-7430) and O-Nest in Shibuya, Tokyo, on March 23 (6:30 p.m., ?2,300 (adv.); [03] 3462-4420). Their debut album, ¡°Music Station,¡± is on sale now. For more information, visit .