Buffalo, N.Y.-based label Good Charamel – founded by Goo Goo Dolls bassist Robby Takac -- has signed three up-and-coming Japanese bands.

Signed to Good Charamel for North America are alt-rock band Molice, all-girl rock band Lazy Guns Brisky and female rock trio Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re.

Molice has been compared to the Pixies and the Pretenders, and after releasing two independent albums, has developed a strong following both in Japan and internationally. Late last year Molice did shows in Britain, and earlier this year the band appeared at a festival in Hanoi.

Lazy Guns Brisky is a hard-rocking outfit that has been compared to GNR and Aerosmith. Championed early in its career by Tokyo radio DJ George Williams, the band has just completed its first international tour, playing a total of 12 dates in France and Switzerland.
 
Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re debuted in 2005, and since then has toured the U.S. six times, including shows at South by Southwest and anime festivals.

Molice’s album Catalystroc, Lazy Guns Brisky’s 26 Times and Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re’s Sex on the Beach will all be released Aug. 31, 2010, in North America. Good Charamel is also releasing a compilation titled We Love J-Rock  the same day.

Other Japanese acts signed to Good Charamel are veteran female pop/rock trio Shonen Knife and club act DJ Sashimi, who is now based in Buffalo.

Shonen Knife is touring North America this summer to promote the band's Free Time CD and Live at the Mohawk, a DVD shot on Shonen Knife's 2009 U.S. tour that's being released in North America on July 27, while Tsu Shi ma Mi Re is doing an American tour this fall with Peelander Z to promote Sex on the Beach.