Hang On The Box

Hang on the Box began life in 1998 as China’s first all-girl punk band, and since then have developed into one of China’s finest bands, period. One of the best-known and brightest bands to emerge from Beijing’s late-nineties punk scene, Hang On The Box is widely regarded at home and abroad – with passionate fans all around the world, they have toured the US several times, played showcase gigs in Tokyo and Hong Kong, and have a top-selling European compilation, For Every Punk Bitch & Asshole, to their name.

Their nine-year pioneering odyssey includes appearances at the prestigious SXSW festival in Austin TX, and at NYC downtown mecca The Knitting Factory. They’ve appeared in print perhaps more times than any other Chinese band of the era, with features ranging from the cover of Newsweek (with the specter of Mao looming over their shoulder, no less) to a glorifying profile in The Wire. Their celebrity fans include David Bowie and Marilyn Manson; Malcolm McLaren thought about using the band as his next pop punk puppets, until he realized the band had a mind of their own and didn’t want anybody else’s hand up their ass.

In 2004 and 2005, Hang On The Box was nominated “Best Rock Band” for the Chinese equivalent of the Grammy music awards – an event all the more wondrous given their ferocious music and complete disdain for the well-mannered types who populate the formal media. Singer Wang Yue is one of the most recognized (and talked about) figures in Chinese music, and after attending one of their performances it is easy to see why: she writes catchy, sneering tunes and spits them out on stage with a passion that would scare off a tiger.

2007 finally saw the release of an as yet untitled fourth album, the last to feature original drummer Shen Jing, and one that effortlessly blends indie, electronica, funk, disco and noise. It includes long-time live favourite Shanghai, a hypnotic exploration of the psychic lines between Beijing, Berlin and NYC, and one that has set alight the D-22 stage more times than we can remember.