Just throwing this out there. Maybe I'm just impatient, I don't know. But it was in October of last year - eight months ago - that a US release of honeycreeper was first officially hinted at. In November, I received an email about their US tour signed by Epic Records - their once and future US record label. Ami and Yumi themselves more or less confirmed a 2008 release on that same tour, telling fans at the US shows to watch for the album this year.
Well, it's June, and no further word has been heard. The goodwill from those US shows - intended to help promote the album - has probably faded by now. Meanwhile, PUFFY are obviously busy gearing up for a new album as they release a series of summer singles. My guess is that the new album will hit Japan right around October-November, as it did last year. That leaves them a very short window to promote any US release of honeycreeper, as they'll no doubt be busy touring in support of their new album in Japan after its release. It would also just seem strange for them to be splitting time promoting a brand new album in one territory and a year-old album in another.
Did something happen in between that US tour and now? Is the US honeycreeper release now off the table? I really don't know, and I wish I did. I do know one thing - Puffy and Girlie Action, their US publicity agency, parted ways a while back. That's not a good sign. I haven't been able to figure out to this point who, if anybody, is currently representing them.
Of course, Puffy's US releases have always been kind of irregular, and if they're not planning to actively promote the album here, they may still just be taking their sweet time. Heck, they could even dump honeycreeper and whatever the new album's called into US stores on the same day and call it done. I obviously don't think that would be a very effective strategy, but it's only so thin that Puffy, their staff and their allotted budget are going to be able to spread themselves these days.
Every day that goes by without an announcement, though, causes me to lose a little more hope.
