Straightener is an indie rock band, a very influential and powerful one. Originally formed in the late '90s, their core line up of front man Atsushi Horie and drummer Shinpei Nakayama shifted over the years and now includes two ex-members of the similarly themed Art-School.
Unsurprisingly, their sound has evolved a matured a bit over the pest ten or so years, yet they haven't moved too far from their early loud and powerful indie rock. Instead, they've developed their natural resources and pushed their sound into much more lush and expansive territory. This has also rounded the corners to their previously harsh delivery. Much like Mo'some Tonebender, this could either be seen as an improvement or a loss, depending on what you're hoping to get out of the experience.
Overall, they write powerful songs filled with the earnest emotion you might expect from similar bands like Foo Fighters, but present it with a slightly harder edge and without any of the melodrama. There is very little trickery or showmanship in any of their work. They are simply very catchy and well written songs that will rock your teeth out. On the flip side, they are also no strangers to the rock ballad, with their Nexus album being host to a few softer, piano tinged tracks.
As mentioned above, the band is currently one half ex-Art-School members, but the incestuous band affiliations don't end there. Atsushi and bassist Hidekazu Hinata are both in the mostly instrumental side project Fullarmor, along with Jun Izawa of Lite/Seabara and Oniy of The Zoobombs. Hidekazu was also the bassist for Zazen Boys. Drummer Shinpei is also in The Predators, along with The Pillows vocalist Sawao Yamanaka and Jiro from Glay. None of these other project stray far from the any of the other band's general indie-power-rock sound that all of the various members seem to champion. Are you still with me?
Long story short, Straightener is like a hub to a giant indie-rock wheel. While their albums are all solid and top quality, their spokes reach out and form a wheel that's more than the sum of its parts.
A Song Runs Through World
Official Site
MySpace
Members:
Atsushi Horie - Vocals, Guitar, Keyboard (Also in Fullarmor)
Shinpei Nakayama - Drums (Also in The Predators)
Hidekazu Hinata - Bass (Former Art-School and Zazen Boys, also in Fullarmor)
Jun Oyama - Guitar (Former Art-School)
Releases:
Nexus 2009
Immortal 2007
Linear 2007
Dear Deadman 2006
Title 2005
Rock End Roll 2004
Lost World's Anthology 2004
Skeletonized 2002
Error 2001
Straighten It Up 2000
Lightening
Black Hole
Tender
Killer Tune
Traveling Gargoyle
The Ramains
Rocksteady
2 comments:
I could almost have sworn you'd written about Straightener before. I was surpised when I looked and saw that you hadn't, actually. Anyway, another good write up.
Actually I did write about them before. This is just an update. A lot of the older entries are either out of date or very very short, without all the info I'd like them to have. Whenever something big happens, like a new album or other news, I like to go back and update, shifting the date stamp so it appears back at the top of the blog.
So don't worry, you're not going crazy if you see a band make a re-appearance. :D
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