Bassist/vocalist Akihiro Nanba, guitarist/vocalist Ken Yokoyama, and drummer Akira Tsuneoka formed the Japanese punk-rock band Hi-Standard in 1991. Lead vocalist Atsuhiko Matsumoto was also part of the founding lineup, although he left the group in 1992, shortly after Hi-Standard recorded its first set of demos. The band thus became a power trio, with Nanba serving not as the group's bass player, but its frontman, as well. Last of Sunny Day, Hi-Standard's debut EP, was released in 1994, followed by the debut album Growing Up in 1995. Growing Up had been recorded in America, and the band partnered with Fat Wreck Records — the American punk label that doubled as the home of iconic groups like NOFX and Racid — to released it stateside. With Fat Wreck's help, Growing Up was a hit amongst punk-pop fans in both America and Japan, eventually selling 700,000 copies. Growing Up was followed by Angry Fist, the band's second album, which arrived in 1997 and sold 350,000 copies in Japan alone. 1999's Making the Road was followed by an EP, Love is a Battlefield, in 2001. Love is a Battlefield proved to the band's final release for a decade, with its members all pursuing different projects during the early 2000s. A reunion in 2011 brought Nanba, Yokoyama, and Tsuneoka back together, and the band released The Gift — Hi-Standard's first album in more than 15 years — in 2017. Several years later, Akira Tsuneoka died at 51 years old on February 14, 2023, which revived interest in the band's back catalog and brought Making the Road back onto the charts, where it reached number 50 on Japan's Line Music Album chart one month later. In December 2025, the group released their sixth album Screaming Newborn Baby, featuring the track "Our Song".
