The Because

For those who don't like to read: Newer Snuffy Smiles pop-punk band. So glorious, so good.

I haven't written much in the past two weeks. Instead I've been looking for a job, and I've found no success (Go America!). But this isn't my personal bitching station (or it probably is and you're all fooled into reading it hahaha sucks to be you guys), so uh, yea.

The Because are from Kyoto, Japan (or at least currently reside there). They're definitely in line soundwise with other bands apart of the Snuffy Smiles label (ya know, one of the best labels of all time). While The Because definitely do share musically with basically every band on their label, it still manages to be quite different. Where every other band is located squarely in the city of melodies and octaves, The Because focus a lot more on making jangly music (I think the "technical" term is hammer-ons and pull-offs, but I don't play guitar at all, bass, yada yada yada). Not only does it make The Because different from others, it also makes them fucking awesome because they do it so well.

The Because - "Boxcar" live. originally by Jawbreaker (if for some reason you don't know this song)

I also think it's worth mentioning that they have a female bass player, and she is cute (kawaii!) as fuck. The Because toured the US in 2009 around when they released their full-length, Get Out Through the Back Door, but I didn't get to see them because I fucked up and didn't know them. Hopefully they do it again (I've heard rumors of Gleam Garden possibly doing a US tour though. Oh boy!)

Basically, download Get Out Through the Back Door. Incredible full-length.

The Because/The Dauntless Elite Split 7"

The Because/One Reason Split 7"

The Because/Blotto Split 7"

Get Out Through the Back Door

Kolya

For those who don't like to read: Kolya was one of a kind. Will probably forever remain one of a kind.

Back to the US for one post (maybe more, I don't plan any of this stuff). I've loved Kolya for years now, and it is all because of just how different they were (then and now). Kolya really just was a band that were themselves throughout, no effects, just their instruments and voices.

The great thing about Kolya is how jangly and 90s their sound was. The guitar never went into a twinkly mode, but they never really relied on chords to flesh out the sound of their music (the bass also sounds fantastic, but the guy plays a fucking Rickenbacker). I don't know who wrote the music for this band, but they obviously had a clear sound in mind that only they could've thought of, and they nailed it to a T. The guitar relies much more on wallowing around, following the emotional response of the vocals that are being sung. Also, yet again, the bass playing is fucking phenomenal.

Kolya - "The Story Becomes the Vehicle"

The second, and much more highly impressive quality, aspect of Kolya's music was the vocals. Simply put, no one did that way, no one still does it this way, and christ can a band start copying Kolya? Both vocalists do a great job (especially on the final track of the LP, Horizons), but it all really falls on the shoulders of the guitar player. I don't know what it is, but the guy has an amazing tonal quality to his voice. This, along with the straight poetry reading of their lyrics (that La Dispute tries and invariably fucks up, because they're awful) make for one crazy combination, considering their lyrics are fucking incredible (when I'm back home I'll do a scan of the LP insert). Their ability to just to basically talk through songs in a poetic way is the most special thing about this band, except for the track La Machine est Morte, the vocals are fucking irritating on that track.

Kolya ended up releasing a demo, 2 7"s, and an LP during their time around. Their LP is a crowning moment of 90s emo music as a whole, a true statement to the best music being made (their LP came out in 2001 though, but who gives a fuck? Certainly not me.)

Demo

Iditarod 7"

Self-Titled 7"

Self-Titled LP

Parkmates

For those who don't like to read: This is gonna be a short post anyway. Really great pop-punk.

I always like to have a little bit of info about a band before I post about them. For Parkmates, that is pretty much impossible. They have a myspace, but there is only one picture of a turtle on it. Geocities is down so I can't check that. Pretty much nothing. Are they still together? No fucking clue. Do they have anything else other than this? No fucking clue. The pictures on the cover of this cd are them in all dressed up uniforms (maybe military uniforms? No fucking clue.).

What I do know though, is that Parkmates play some fantastic pop-punk. They list their influences as Jawbreaker, Crimpshine, Dillinger Four and Descendants; these influences really shine throughout the music. Basically if I had to peg them to anything musically, it would Snuffy Smiles and bandwise, I Excuse. I ended up buying this cd on a total crap shoot. I was buying quite a large order from Go Forward Keep Record distro (these dudes rule and speak english. If you wanna make a distro order, this place is one of the places to go) and as usual, they were out of quite a few things I wanted. I ended up selecting this cd randomly because I saw there influences and thought "Hell, why not?" Ended up not being too bad of a move. If you're into Snuffy Smiles, or in general, really great fucking pop-punk, take a swing at this album; you'll probably end up liking it. Also, the keyboards on the 4th track are awesome as shit.

And they're unknown. IMPRESS YOUR INTERNET FRIENDS WITH THIS GEM.

From the Square Closet to Your Rack or One of Dumps

edit: Well, apparently you can go to their geocities page through the myspace link on their website. The last update by them shows that they played some shows in April, and are most likely kicking it around.

sgt.

For those who don't like to read: Post-rock from Japan that isn't Toe AND doesn't try and be Toe.

I have so many problems with most post-rock bands. Most of these problems stem from the fact that post-rock is usually boring beyond belief. I can enjoy a good build up to a song, but sitting their ringing out the same 2 or 3 notes with your stupid fucking delay pedal for minutes on end is just dumb. Why do people like Explosions in the Sky again?

I don't know many post-rock bands from Japan. Because after you know of Toe, really, who the fuck do you need to know about? Toe really just does everything right when it comes to being exceptional musicians writing exceptional music; this isn't a Toe post though, that'll be at the end of this month when their new EP comes out.

The thing I like about Sgt. is that they can incorporate violins and pianos so well into the music, and they don't do it to add some light, "airy" texture to the music, they in fact like to rock out hard. I feel like the secret to Sgt.'s success is the fact that their rhythm section is jaw-dropping good. There really isn't a better way to show off Sgt.'s rhythm section than the 2nd track on Stylus Fantasticus, 囚人達のジレンマゲーム. This track is basically just a 6 minute romp fest of the rhythm section stomping your fucking face in. Actually have to take a second here and just acknowledge how great this track is. Spending 3 minutes with the bass and drums playing over the same line, only to have the guitar jump into the line out of nowhere is pulled off with straight fucking perfection.

sgt. - "囚人達のジレンマゲーム"

The second really important piece of Sgt.'s sound is their violin player (total babe, by the way). Writing about this, I'm trying to find a way to say "hey, the violin player isn't a gimmicky thing," but in a way that isn't as blunt/stupid as that. BUT, HEY, THE VIOLIN PLAYER ISN'T A GIMMICKY THING. She's actually pretty fucking great at violin, and I'm not sure if she runs her violin through any effect pedals or shit like that, but it definitely sounds possible. The best song to demonstrate Mikiko's ability is 銀河を壊して発電所を創れ (I use a lot of examples from Stylus Fantasticus more than Birthday because: I've listened to it a lot more, and, holy shit this album is incredible). All 16 minutes of this song are really brought up to the next level by her ability to weave in and through sections of songs with her violin, and her ability to initiate the transitions into other sections. Every band can have a great rhythm section to hold down the fort, but bands need people to expand upon that and make music worth much more.

銀河を壊して発電所を創れ (Destroy the Galaxy, Create the Power Plant (I really like the title of this song)) is a fucking monolith of a song though. It's sort of a hard/weird thing to describe, but something you totally understand listening to it though.

sgt. - "銀河を壊して発電所を創れ" It's in two parts, which is dumb. But there is nothing I can currently do about that.

Sgt. released another album last year, "Birthday." It's also a pretty awesome album. I've listened to it a few times, and it's definitely got some great tracks on it (especially Zweiter Weltkrieg). I don't want to detract from the album, but it's sort of hard to want to listen to Sgt., and not put Stylus Fantasitcus more. Definitely still a recommended album, but Stylus Fantasticus is their magnum opus for now. I'd be uploading videos of these last two songs, but Windows Movie Maker is just like "LOL NAH, THE FILES ARE CORRUPTED EVEN THOUGH YOU'RE CURRENTLY USING THEM."

Perception of Causality

Sgt./Good Music Split

Special EP

Stylus Fantasticus

Capital of Gravity

Birthday

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

tumblr

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

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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