Hey there,first of all I want to thank all of you who replied to my last post. It’s really cool to read that this blog means something to somebody! Thank you!Now, for the good(ish) news: I started working on my new blog which you‘ll find atBut since I could not get the import of this blog to work I will have to re-post all the old shit so nothing will get lost (except for your comments sorry!). This means it‘ll take some more time until the new blog is up and running, but it WILL come and I WILL keep all the old posted music. Right now the new site is still set to private, but give me some time, I hope I‘ll get it done until December.Stay tuned (for more rock‘n'roll)抗独. As was announced in December 2018 blogsport will sadly cease to be sometime in late 2019.
Since I still want to continue blogging about japanese punk/hardcore/post punk/gothic and so on, I will have to find a new home. In the last weeks I tried to move this blog to a different hoster, but didn‘t manage to import the backup xml data of this blog. Since I don‘t want to lose the data on this old blog, but am a) incompetent b) a lazy bum and c) gone for the next week or so, it is going to take a while until I have definite news how and where I‘m going to continue blogging.Those who care, stay tuned!抗独. The Willard’s 2nd 7“, released in 1983. All in all, it is still a bit rougher than their later, anthemic „The Damned go Japan“ style, but the direction is already there. On Side A the opener Soldier Song is fast paced but catchy, while Cos I Live is an aggressive, pounding mid-tempo number with melodic choruses and cool guitar harmonies, and Suicide Romance is quite hardcore in style. Side B opens with their anthem „Punx Sing A Gloria“ and closes with the catchy and melodic Voices.
Afaik my version is a bootleg. Like their from the year before, this 8“ from 1986 has three tracks of melodic, mid-tempo (and on the last track somewhat melancholic) punkrock. For some reason the a-side -“Unaffected Nation“- starts out with the wedding march as its intro, and the b-side’s catchy opener -called „To Hell“- has some chants of „Oi! A nation unaffected by weddings? To hell with Oi? Is that the meaning of this? What’s a bit strange about this ep is the lengths of the songs: the first and the final track last more than 5 ½ minutes each, which is a bit much for simple punkrock.
Paintbox’s 2nd 7“, released in 1999, is testament to their creativity and uniqueness. The Door is a fast and driving piece of powerful hardcore punk with Chelsea’s trademark guitar leads, but the real kicker here is the intro supported by a fucking brass section, which also gets to play a solo with dual harmonics. Provided Railroad is somewhat slower, but gets to feature a harmonica, congas (bongos?!), a flamenco guitar solo and another brass solo. I‘m not sure if I need to mention this, but ALL of these crazy musical excursion sound absolutely great!
Gypsy On Journey, with a title that’s no longer the preferred nomenclature, was the last 7“ by The Mobs. The guitar lead of the title track -a fast, melodic and somewhat melancholic hardcore song- bears an uncanny resemblance to the Asta Kask song Demokrati. The second track is a wild ride with a slap bass intro (with lots of chorus) and a really crazy synth. The last track is the most powerful one on this 7“, with metallic guitar leads and some nutty, almost clean guitar parts in the chorus/bridge/whatever.
During and after Endō Michirō released tons of records with tons of other bands. On 1987’s Terminal you can still find lots of punkrock, albeit in a wild mix of synth-laden psychedelia, new wave, rock and post-punk. A bit like on, Terminal’s heavier songs sometimes remind me of PIL’s album. Also, there’s a terrifying reworking of ’s 溺愛 (smothering love, one of my favorite songs by The Stalin), which seems even more choking and oppressive, with its monotone and somewhat atonal piano „melody“. None of all the songs‘ lengths are below 4 minutes, with three songs cracking the 9 minute mark.
The production is clean with prominent drums pounding out the same static, mid-tempo rhythms -sometimes without any variation or fills- for minutes on end. All in all a very dark and strange album, but also a very satisfying listen if one is open to all its twisted weirdness. Here comes Mentai Rock legend Sheena And The Rokkets‘ 1979 debut LP, appropriately titled #1. The music is of course less punk than new wave rock (here too with a bit of a 50s influence), but the opener Highway Of Tears is such a driving, stomping and heart-thumping punk rock number you just wanna put on a moth-eaten Oxfam jacket, bounce around your room and gob at your parents! No wait, that would have been the UK No idea what the punk kids in Fukuoka did.This version of the LP is a later pressing from the mid-eighties with a different song order and one extra track.
Crime Demo Bass Guitar – Drums – Guitar – Vocals –1-1Never1:291-2Anti-War1:551-3Warcloud1:511-4Destroy1:271-5No Religion0:361-6Horrendous1:071-7War Games1:29Crust And Anguished Life Compilation CD Bass Guitar – Drums – Vocals, Guitar –1-8Nightmare1:30Conquest Demo / Split Tape With Insane Youth Bass Guitar – Drums – Vocals, Guitar –1-9Conquest2:041-10Victims1:551-11The Report Of.1:101-12In Fact1:441-13Attack The Enemy1:131-14Explosion2:181-15The Problem0:44Fear Of The War Demo1-16Fear Of The War1:531-17Hellish View1:271-18Tragic Scene1:131-19No Crime1:441-20Leader Of The Fuckin. Brazilian version limited to 1,000 copies. Contains material from 1992-1994:'Crime' Demo Tape: released April '92. Less than 100 copies made.Crust And Anguished Life-International Compilation CD: recorded at N.D., released by in '93.' Conquest' Demo Tape (also released as a Split Tape with Insane Youth): recorded on a 4-track recorder at the rehearsal studio, February 1993. Sold at gigs only.' Fear Of The War' Demo Tape: limited edition of 250 with badge and patch on.1st/2nd Demos & Live Tape: first 2 demos & live December '92 compiled on one tape.
Distributed worldwide.' Once The War Started' 7' EP: 500 copies on Overthrow Records in '93. Later reissued on Split LP with Hakushi by Love & Hope Records.Split 7' w/ Insane Youth700 copies on in '93. Later reissued on Split LP with Hakuchi.The Demo's LP: recorded at the same time as the first EP. Previously available on several compilation tapes.
Fujiwara
Later reissued as the Demos Album by Love & Hope Records in '95.Unreleased 4th demo: recorded live in studio, winter '94, on a 4-track.