Union of Snakes

For those who don't like to read: If you like Shotmaker (if you're human), shut the fuck up and download this. No they have nothing to do with the Duran Duran song (hopefully).

Union of Snakes is:

6 Strings/Vox)Hiko el Echizen　Jellyfish

6 Strings/Vox)Gasmask Seller

4 Strings/Vox)Kdm the Fighter

2 Sticks/Late/Absence)Yodobashi-Chu

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Soundcloud

I feel sort of weird making this blog post. I mean Ryan at The Absent Trail blog posted this a few days ago, and thats where I heard it from. And the real problem is that I assume Ryan makes up like 80% of my viewership. Awkward (and an even weirder paragraph I guess? I don't know, I just ate a baconator and I'm high off greasy goodness).

Union of Snakes live

Union of Snakes are fucking phenomenal. Not only that, they actually utilize technology! They have a tumblr, post shit on Soundcloud, and upload their demos on mediafire. They also have a heavy Shotmaker influence (they actually list their influences as Shotmaker, Regulator Watts, Rodan, Slint, and A Minor Forest) so whats not to love here? The best part of all this is they emulate the 90s hardcore sound so fucking well. This band has really taken a sound I haven't heard in a while, and they play it to perfection. In fact, they might play this sound a little too well. I sort of believe that they should go ahead and rename their newest EP, "Vol. 2.5," to "Look guys, we really fucking love Shotmaker."

Union of Snakes - "Rising Tied"

Its got everything that you could be looking for: prominent, fantastic bass lines, those sort of subdued, but yelling vocals (its a weird thing to try and describe now that I sit here trying to describe it. It is sort of like, tin canny sounding? Shotmaker sounding? God damn it just fucking listen and you'll get what I mean). If there is one new band to keep your eye on from Japan (and there are a fucking few that have been catching my attention recently), this is one that you should keep up on the top of your list. Hell, follow their tumblr if you use that sort of thing (are a teenage girl) and you'll be doing just fine whenever they do anything; they seem to update it fairly often.

It has really just dawned on me that I use parentheses way too fucking much. Holy shit.

Union of Snakes Vol. 1 & 2

Union of Snakes Vol. 2.5 (aka the we really fucking love Shotmaker EP)

Damezumari

For those who don't like to read: Damezumari play 90s-style emotive hardcore. Really well.

Oh god, this band isn't from Japan, but there name is spelled in Japanese (except for the 3 way split cd, which is actually a goof), so uh, this still counts right? I don't think it really matters, there is a bunch of fantastic music from around the world, so I'll just go ahead and feel free to visit familiar soil.

I got a chance to see Damezumari live once (it would've been twice, but that show got moved to Baltimore, and seriously, that city needs to be nuked away) and it was absolutely something else. After the show Eric told me that he felt like they weren't really into it, but I told him, and will still tell him, that he's wrong, because it was still one of the best live shows I've ever seen. I remember that they had me film the set for them, and I sort of expect the reason they never uploaded it was that I was sort of yelling along the entire time. Oops (yolo).

Damezumari has been around since 2003, from Tulsa, OK. They're technically just Eric Titterud on guitar/vocals, and then the worlds biggest revolving door of bassists and drummers. They generally have a bassist ready to tour with him when he wants, but they haven't been able to find a reliable drummer for just about ever, which is really one of the more bummer things in the world. I really can't seem to think of a band that deserves a full cast more than Damezumari, they definitely are one of the better bands to put music out in the past 5 or so years.

Damezumari - "Groundhog Day"

One of the things that has always drawn me to Damezumari is the fact that every song they write is fucking incredible musically. I'm pretty sure it's just Eric who hammers out all of these songs, but every releases of theirs includes some of the most technical, amazing drumming followed by really well thought out song structures and riffs that are all put together so seamlessly. It really makes every single Damezumari song a fucking journey through the music itself. It is a weird thing to try and describe, and more of something that you have to listen and experience by yourself. Musically, Damezumari play stuff in the vein of 90s emotive-hardcore stylistically, uhhh, maybe like a post-hardcore type deal to explain it easier? I'm really bad at this, but Damezumari are one of my favorite bands ever and their music fits a style that I always want to hear (and maybe one day play? Haha, that joke always kills me).

Damezumari - "The Meaning You're Believing"

I'm not going to blither and blather (which is something I end up saying every blog post) so I'll just go ahead and end it here (also something I end up saying every blog post). You can download everything for free at their website, located below. I would recommend going for the Hitherandtithering Waters Of 10" first, or maybe the songs off the Fire Team Charlie Split LP, but it's all good stuff so tart where you want to start.

Damezumari Web Site

ぐしゃ人間 (Gusya Ningen)

For those who don't like to read: Psychadelic/Post-Punk/Noisy shit from Tokyo. This band is weird man.

Same shit, different day. I need to find a job so I can do stuff with my life, or will that take up my time? I have not a fucking clue. Not having money sucks though.

I really don't get why I listen to this band as much as I do. I mean, just listening to it feels like it's something I could never really be into, but deep down in my bones, I'm super fucking into this band. Maybe because it's basically an all girl band (they usually just have a dude drum for them for shows and shit), or maybe it's because they seem to epitomize all of the weirdness I love about Japan. Gusya Ningen definitely have a weird definitive sound to them though, and I'm not just talking about their cover art (but whoever does do it gets a special mention, it's awesome).

ぐしゃ人間 - "FFV" PV

Maybe you'll find the nose picking sexy? You sick fuck.

There is a couple things I'm able to say about their sound though. I really like the girls voice, no matter what crazy shit she does to it. Also, the guitar player can write some balls-heavy riffs. The cool thing about Gusya is that they're able to write these balls-heavy riffs into song structures that just make no sense at all (basically where the noisy tag goes in, although they seem to have amped up the noisy stuff in their latest album, ババアの祈り) while still keeping an enjoyable song altogether. They also do the psychedelic stuff pretty well, it doesn't sound like some shitty 70's psychedelic prog bullshit, but instead sounds like they crafted their own awesome sound.

ぐしゃ人間 - "ゲシュタルト崩壊"

There is a definite shift in sound though between their two full lengths. It's hard to put into words (as is with music that is basically out there like this), but the second full length is much more cohesive. The band may have found solid ground for their sound with their first album, but they went ahead and put it all together with their second album, making a much better, solid piece of music.

RIFFS

RIFFS

RIFFS

RIFFS

RIFFS

RIFFS

RIFFS

RIFFS

RIFFS

RIFFS

RIFFS

RIFFS

As usually happens whenever I try and describe music, I'm gonna have to stop myself before I get too far ahead (The looming fuck head of a thunderstorm might also have something to do with me stopping early as well, though). Gusya Ningen is defintely a fuck-incredible band though. You should check them out and enjoy the post-punk-y/psychedelic-y wave of noisy shit. That makes sense, right? No? Well burn in hell then. Enjoy this picture of Gusya Ningen live.

グシャノ食卓

ババアの祈り

Minority Blues Band

For those who don't like to read: I've touched on Minority Blues Band before, but fuck you, this is my blog so I'll write about what I want you shit machine.

Minority Blues Band was George, Spalding, and Yumi.

I'm fucking tired but I can't fall asleep. And since I'm currently out of school and have a boring worthless job, hopefully I'll be able to entertain you less and less with shit you won't read. Whatever, I'm trying to think but my brain is all sort of like "nah fuck you dude, you are a lazy piece of shit so I'm gonna give you nothing to write about along with nothing to do." I'm too tired to play Dota 2 as well, it's just a hard fucking knock life for me.

As you've probably guessed from the general theme of this blog, Minority Blues Band are from Japan. Where from? I haven't a fucking clue. It's not like that shit really matters, or maybe you have some weird hate for a random part of Japan, and it burns so bright you have to hate every single thing that comes out of that specific spot. Get some help. Minority Blues Band released just about everything of theirs on the legendary Snuffy Smiles label. You should just know by that that this is some of the top-tier shit. Minority Blues band called it a day in 2004 after 6 years of ripping it apart, and then released a nice compilation of their splits and shit in 2009.

Minority Blues Band - "God Bless'em Not Me"

Minority Blues Band have been my primary jams for the past couple of weeks. They play a form of melodic pop-punk that is just so ahead of the fucking game it's ridiculous. The song structures are a lot slower than most pop-punk's hyper speed bullshit, but they still manage to nail a sense of urgency (I guess that's the word?) that just seems so impossible for the slower song structures. I'd also like to throw out a mention to the vocals too. They really do have a special quality to them that I like to point out, they just seem better than every other pop-punk band from Japan (barring the ultra-kuwaii female vocals of Pear of the West and others of the sort).

Minority Blues Band - "Running" I fucking love the riff in this song, it's just so out there to me.

I'll try and be more active just for you. I'll even post about new bands. But seriously, listen to more Minority Blues Band.

Capitalized Suffering

Grab the Fire Swinging in the Rain

Momentary Beautiful Burnout

1000 Travels of Jawaharlal

For those who don't like to read: Japanese Melodic Punk/Hardcore at its finest. Owari Wa Konai is one of my favorite Japanese Hardcore LPs.

1000 Travels of Jawaharlal was:

Kouichirou "Kojak" Shimoda: Vo/Gu

Shinichi "Gan" Iwata: Ba

Yasuaki "PRN" Nakazono: Vo/Dr

So I'm almost finished finals week. I plan to post more when academia stops using me as a cheap 2 dollar whore. Regardless of all the lack of sleep and shit, I haven't had a fucking second to do anything else. Although I did get to watch Cold Fish by Sion Sono recently, and man what a fucking film. Now I have to check everything else out by this guy and just hope it's all as depraved and fucked up as Cold Fish was (mannnnnnnnnnn, I couldn't even guess that fucking movie for a second, fuck that movie).

1000 Travels of Jawaharlal Live in Tokyo. I'm pretty sure the song is "Gurasu No Mukou"

But that's really not the point. 1000 Travels played some next level fucking melodic hardcore. They were from Kita-Kyushu, Japan. I've heard a few people speak about this band, but for some reason they were referred to as "poser shit." I honestly don't know what to make of this, maybe it was just some bitter asshole? (the world has plenty of those, ex: me) Maybe they really were poser shit, although I don't know how they would be. I would usually dismiss something I heard like this as pure stupidity, but i mean, it actually sort of blows my mind someone would call them poser shit, because Owari Wa Konai is really one of the best albums I've heard. (best record score ever was just finding this fucking thing)

Owari Wa Konai is some designated time of fucking force. Shit, the first time I listened to this album in 2008 or so was quite the experience, blowing my stupid, little ears away. I don't really think it gets better Japanese hardcore than the tracks "With Smile and Slobber," "There is Nothing," and "Don't Turn Your Eyes Away." Just all melodic perfection. I'm trying really hard not to repeat myself here I promise. None of these guys do anything particularly incredibly or noteworthy with their instruments on their own, but all 3 of them together play some of the most fucking groovy, melodic, and fantastic riffs that I've ever been apart of hearing (at least in my eyes).

1000 Travels of Jawaharlal- "With Smile and Slobber"

While 1000 Travels wasn't ripping the universe with their LP, they put out a few splits with Snuffy Smiles bands, such as Minority Blues Band and Pear of the West. Outside of all files readily available on the internet, one could make a point that the rest of the 1000 Travels stuff doesn't exist because holy fucking shit, I can not find a thing after years of searching for all of them. Not a picture of one, not a file from there; the only thing that credits the existence of these splits and demos (split with Bowfura, split with Pear of the West, and their Demo) is the fact that their official website says that they existed at some point of time.

I have no fucking idea what any of these guys are up to now, because to be honest, I really have no way of figuring out. If you know of any other bands that they are in (or if you have any of this unfindable stuff) please let me know, I would totally be interested in hearing what else this band did.

The 4th track of letter skips. I don't know why. I can't find a version where it doesn't skip. So fuck you.

Letter CDep

Split w/ Minority Blues Band

Owari Wa Konai

Split w/ Aghast

Sora

For those who don't like to read: Sora is a really great band. Go for the gold and download.

Sora is:

Kenta Uchida: Gu/Vo

Noriyoshi Mitamura: Gu/Vo

Yusuke Sakamoto: Ba

Nero Yamaguchi: Dr

Sora's music is a little weird to me. It's like they want to be apart of the whole indie/emo thing in Japan, but fuck it, they want to screamo hard as well. Their earlier sounds (primarily the Demo and Doors split) have a much rawer, but that may be lent much more to their poorer recording quality (not that it detracts anything). The great thing going through Sora's entire discography though (and it's a short one) is that, even through their short life, they have managed to up their game quite considerably, as I feel there is a noticeable difference between their demo tracks, and their latest mini album, 耳鳴りとその訳.

Sora - "Mushoku no Keshiki"

For me, the difference not only lies in the change of production quality, but song writing as whole (did I just repeat myself? Probably, but not giving a fuck goes a long way). Their newest (and newest is used loosely, I think this came out in 2010?) mini album 耳鳴りとその訳 shows this way obvious jump in song writing. Not only is the re-recording of one of their demo songs, Sora no Shita, sounding way better, but their guitar parts are also vastly improved. The greatest example of this is in the song Last Days, which has some really killer fucking riffs (no really, super killer, fucking riffs). The interesting part about this mini album is the vocal delivery. Sora has always teetered on the indie/emo delivery and just straight ripping their vocals, but they make a switch on this mini album towards just more indie/emo delivery. The majority of this mini album revolves around this progression in sound. It's a lot more focused on their guitar playing (which I would like to point out here, it doesn't sound as "bright" as the rest of the scene, and instead seems to have a little distortion/or whatever in it. It's really refreshing to hear something different.) and what I find to be some fantastic drumming as well.

Sora - "Last Days"

I have no idea what Sora is up to now. Their website says their still playing live shows, and their twitter is still active. I read some blog post a year or two ago that said these guys were on their way to recording some new tracks, so hopefully they're still up to that. Other than that, download it and get to listening. Also, sorry the 2nd track on いつかのテープレコーダーCDep is shitty quality. It's all I can find because my original download had a corrupted file, and the only available was from some jackass who ripped the cd at 128kbps and 22050Hz (SERIOUSLY, WHO DOES THIS?).

Demo

Doors (only their songs)

いつかのテープレコーダーCDep

耳鳴りとその訳

You can also buy 耳鳴りとその訳 from Go Forward Keep