Description

VAMPIRE BATS – “Witch Stomp”

Artist: VAMPIRE BATS
Song: “Witch Stomp”
Album: Vampire’s Delight
Released: July 1, 2026 — digital album
CD release: July 15, 2026
Genre: Garage rock, psychobilly, punkabilly, rockabilly, punk rock
Label: Gollipop Record
Distribution: Tokuma Japan Communications
Catalog number: YZCW-1012
Songwriter: YOU
Language: English
Country of origin: Japan

Overview

“Witch Stomp” is a song by Japanese garage-rock and psychobilly trio VAMPIRE BATS. Written and composed by the band’s guitarist and vocalist YOU, the track opens the group’s 2026 debut album, Vampire’s Delight.

Built around a pounding dance rhythm, walking bass, raw guitar and horror-themed rock-and-roll imagery, “Witch Stomp” combines the primitive energy of 1950s rockabilly and 1960s garage rock with punk, psychobilly and Japanese underground rock. Its playful supernatural theme presents the song as a twisted monster dance, with the narrator surrendering body and soul to a glamorous and dangerous witch.

The song’s stripped-down arrangement and repeated “stomp” refrain reflect the tradition of early rock-and-roll dance records while placing the music inside VAMPIRE BATS’ campy world of vampires, zombies, full moons and midnight romance.

“Witch Stomp” was released digitally as part of Vampire’s Delight on July 1, 2026. The physical CD edition followed on July 15 through Tokuma Japan Communications and includes two additional bonus tracks.

Music and style

“Witch Stomp” draws from several related underground rock styles:

Garage rock
Psychobilly
Punkabilly
Rockabilly
Garage punk
Horror punk
Early rock and roll

The recording emphasizes a direct three-piece sound rather than elaborate production. Guitar, bass and drums carry the track, while the vocals use short phrases and repeated commands to create the feeling of a supernatural dance-floor chant.

The song’s musical identity recalls the raw side of early rock and roll, surf instrumentals, trashy garage bands and horror-themed acts such as The Cramps. Rather than approaching its vampire and witch imagery as serious gothic music, VAMPIRE BATS use humor, style and exaggerated B-movie atmosphere.

Lyrics and theme

The lyrics to “Witch Stomp” were written in English by YOU. They describe an alluring witch whose movements place the narrator under a total spell. The words mix danger, attraction and submission with the physical language of a dance song.

The central image is the “stomp,” a term associated with numerous early rock-and-roll and garage dance records. In VAMPIRE BATS’ version, the dance becomes both a romantic obsession and a supernatural curse.

Official Japanese lyric listings credit both the words and music to YOU.

Music video

The official music video for “Witch Stomp” was released in June 2026 through HOLLY’s YouTube channel. The video presents VAMPIRE BATS as a high-energy garage-rock trio and emphasizes the band’s combination of vintage rock-and-roll style, punk attitude and horror imagery.

Its performance-centered presentation keeps the focus on the group’s visual identity and musicianship. The video also served as an introduction to Vampire’s Delight, which was announced for national Japanese release through retailers including Tower Records and Amazon Japan.

VAMPIRE BATS

VAMPIRE BATS are a Japanese all-female garage-rock, punkabilly and psychobilly band led by Kyoto-born guitarist, vocalist and songwriter YOU.

YOU developed her style through earlier work with groups including ASTRO BABYS, Cherry Bomb Candies and Pink Moon Babies. VAMPIRE BATS continued her interest in vintage rock and roll, garage punk and theatrical underground music, placing those influences within a distinct vampire-themed presentation.

The group was active by 2019 and went through several personnel changes before establishing the lineup heard around the release of Vampire’s Delight. The album was promoted as the trio’s first full-length recording and as the culmination of several years of performances and lineup development.

VAMPIRE BATS have also maintained a close association with Gollipop Record, the label responsible for the digital release of Vampire’s Delight.

Members

Current lineup

YOU — vocals and guitar
Founder, primary songwriter and musical leader of VAMPIRE BATS. YOU previously performed with ASTRO BABYS, Cherry Bomb Candies and Pink Moon Babies. She wrote the original material on Vampire’s Delight, including “Witch Stomp.”

HOLLY — bass
Bass player and vocalist associated with the band’s current three-piece lineup. HOLLY also operates the YouTube channel through which the official “Witch Stomp” video and other VAMPIRE BATS material have been presented.

BLEU — drums
Drummer in the lineup documented around the release of Vampire’s Delight.

Former and supporting members

mirakuru — supporting drums, 2019–2025
RinRin — drums, 2023–2024
NON — bass, 2024
MIYU — bass, 2023
ELLIE — bass, 2019–2020
MANA — former bass

The group’s documented personnel history reflects a changing rhythm section built around YOU as its continuing guitarist, vocalist and creative center.

Vampire’s Delight

Vampire’s Delight is the debut full-length album by VAMPIRE BATS. The nine-song digital edition was released worldwide by Gollipop Record on July 1, 2026 and runs approximately 23 minutes.

The physical CD was issued on July 15, 2026 through Tokuma Japan Communications. It expands the album to eleven tracks by adding “Eternal Girl” and “Vampire Woman,” two songs originally recorded by an earlier VAMPIRE BATS lineup in 2019.

The album contains seven principal original songs and two cover versions: the “Batman Theme,” associated with the 1966 television series, and “Please Give Me Something,” originally recorded by Bill Allen and The Back Beats in 1958.

Digital edition

“Witch Stomp”
“Dr. Mad Daddy”
“Strange Baby”
“Full Moonlight”
“Zombie in Love”
“Batman Theme”
“Burning”
“Red Apple Pie”
“Please Give Me Something”

Physical CD edition

“Witch Stomp”
“Dr. Mad Daddy”
“Strange Baby”
“Full Moonlight”
“Zombie in Love”
“Batman Theme”
“Burning”
“Red Apple Pie”
“Please Give Me Something”
“Eternal Girl” — bonus track
“Vampire Woman” — bonus track

The CD was released under catalog number YZCW-1012, with the JAN/ISBN product number 4573205348643.

Discography

Studio albums

** Vampire’s Delight — 2026**

VAMPIRE BATS’ debut studio album. Released digitally as a nine-track album by Gollipop Record on July 1, followed by an eleven-track physical edition distributed by Tokuma Japan Communications on July 15.

Songs and music videos

“Witch Stomp” — 2026
Opening track from Vampire’s Delight and the subject of an official music video.

Documented early recordings

“Eternal Girl” — originally recorded in 2019
Later included as a bonus track on the physical edition of Vampire’s Delight.

“Vampire Woman” — originally recorded in 2019
Later included as a bonus track on the physical edition of Vampire’s Delight.

Musical influences and image

VAMPIRE BATS combine American rock-and-roll traditions with the visual energy of Japan’s underground punk and garage scenes. Their music draws on:

1950s rockabilly and rhythm and blues
1960s garage rock and surf music
Punk and garage punk
Psychobilly and punkabilly
Horror comics and low-budget monster films
Vampire, zombie and full-moon imagery

Their songs frequently treat supernatural subjects with humor and pop immediacy. Titles such as “Zombie in Love,” “Full Moonlight,” “Vampire Woman” and “Witch Stomp” form a unified midnight-monster world, but the music remains rooted in concise, danceable rock and roll.

Legacy and reception

“Witch Stomp” introduced VAMPIRE BATS’ first full-length album to a wider international audience. Its English-language lyrics, recognizable horror-rock imagery and compact garage arrangement made it accessible beyond Japan while retaining the band’s underground character.

The song represents the central idea behind VAMPIRE BATS: classic rock and roll resurrected through punk energy, playful horror and a distinctly Japanese garage-band identity.

BVMTV Vault

Featured in the Bohemia AfterDark Video Vault, “Witch Stomp” continues BVMTV’s long-running presentation of international punk, garage rock, alternative music and artists operating beyond the boundaries of conventional commercial television.

Vampires’ rock and roll—raw, strange, seductive and built to make the underground stomp.