In 2011, Hi-Standard announced an indefinite hiatus, focusing on side projects (Ken’s solo career, Nanba’s BBQ Chickens). Yet Making the Road never disappeared. In 2023, the album saw a resurgence on TikTok via “Stay Gold” being used in skateboarding and nostalgia edits. Younger fans — many not even born when the album dropped — are discovering it.
The album also influenced countless bands:
Making the Road was Hi-Standard’s third studio album and their most commercially successful. It reached #5 on the Oricon Albums Chart in Japan — an almost unheard-of feat for a punk band. Songs like “Stay Gold” and “My First Kiss” became anthems for skaters, punks, and disaffected youth across Asia and North America. histandardmaking the road full album zip upd
Critics praised the album for blending Californian skate-punk (think NOFX, Bad Religion) with a distinctly Japanese melodic sensibility. The production (handled by the band and Ryan Greene, known for NOFX’s Punk in Drublic) is crisp but raw — the perfect middle ground.
Before diving into Making the Road, it’s essential to understand the band behind it. Hi-Standard formed in 1991 in Tokyo, consisting of: Alongside bands like The Blue Hearts and Guitar
Alongside bands like The Blue Hearts and Guitar Wolf, Hi-Standard became the face of Japanese punk rock in the 1990s. They were signed to Fat Wreck Chords (the legendary U.S. label run by NOFX’s Fat Mike), which gave them massive international exposure. Their sound — fast, melodic, bilingual (English/Japanese), and irresistibly energetic — won over fans worldwide.
The title Making the Road is a metaphor for the band’s DIY ethos — you don’t wait for a path to appear; you build it yourself. This philosophy is embedded in every riff, shout-along chorus, and breakneck drum fill. Hi-Standard announced an indefinite hiatus
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