'', live in Dublin (2018) Lobban and Bulled grew up in
Bromley in the suburbs south of London and met in their teens. In search for a new band member, they posted advertisements, including on MixB, an online bulletin board for Japanese expatriates, largely due to their interest in "
Japanese rap". Perry was one of the first respondents. They selected her based on her background in art, and their interest in her bilingual ability. The trio called themselves
Kero Kero Bonito; its meaning is intentionally ambiguous, with one derivation from the Japanese onomatopoeic words for frog croaks and a
type of fish. Other meanings include the Brazilian
quero-quero bird while "bonito" means "pretty" in both Portuguese and Spanish, thus "Pretty Quero-quero" – or even "I want, I want pretty" in a rough translation. The group released their debut mixtape
Intro Bonito through
Double Denim Records in August 2014. They wrote many of their songs featured on the mixtape using a
Casio SA-46 mini-keyboard. The band contributed "Flamingo" to
Ryan Hemsworth's compilation EP
shh#ffb6c1. In September 2014, Kero Kero Bonito released
Bonito Recycling, a compilation of
Intro Bonito remixes by artists including
Danny L Harle and
Spazzkid. The band released the single "Build It Up", on which Perry sings in a call and response pattern, in November 2014. On 10 August 2015, Kero Kero Bonito announced their first North American tour, which took place during October 2015. On 21 October 2016, the group released their first album
Bonito Generation through Double Denim. On 2 February 2017, the
YouTuber Berd published a parody animation of the band's single "Flamingo". The video went
viral, and became an
internet meme, surpassing 25 million views as of April 2023. On 12 February 2018, the band released the single "Only Acting". It departs from the band's previous electronic sound with a darker, rock-influenced style. Later, on 20 February 2018, the band released the EP
TOTEP. The EP included "Only Acting", and other songs following the rock-influenced style. 2019 On 13 April 2018, the band performed their first 'full band' show. This involved two extra members, James Rowland on electric guitar and Jennifer Walton on drums and sampler, as well as Lobban on drums and keyboards and Bulled on bass guitar. Rowland previously played guitar on
TOTEP. This change in live line-up reflected their change in sound following the EP. On 8 May 2018, the band released the single, "Time Today", and announced their second studio album, ''
Time 'n' Place'', which was released on 1 October 2018. The album was sonically a significant departure from their previous studio album, and was inspired by radical changes in the band's personal lives following their tour cycle for their debut album. On 8 July 2019, the band uploaded "KKB Life" to
YouTube, a vlog video recorded during the ''Time 'n' Place
era, announcing that a new era is starting. They announced a North America and Europe tour shortly after and released the single "When the Fires Come" in September 2019. Later on in the month, before the tour started, they also released their fourth EP Civilisation I''. In 2020, the band wrote and performed "It's Bugsnax!", the theme song for the video game
Bugsnax, which was featured in its announcement trailer. In April 2021, Kero Kero Bonito released their fifth EP,
Civilisation II. In September 2021, Kero Kero Bonito released "Rom Com 2021", a remix of
Soccer Mommy's single "Rom Com 2004". The song was released under the 23rd instalment of
Adult Swim's Singles Series. In August 2023, the band released "Legendary", the official theme song for the
Pokémon World Championships. ==Band members==