Mo'some Tonebender (モーサム･トーンベンダー)

The three men in Mo'some Tonebender have been making their intense blend of noise rock and softer experimentalism since 1997. At first blush it may be easy to say that they are just a loud hard-rock band, but that would be selling them entirely too-short. While they do have everything turned up to eleven most of the time, they aren't afraid of strong melodies and softer, precious songs from time to time. Mo'some Tonebender is possibly the band that Nirvana would be, if they were still around. While their songs are certainly loud and angry at times, they also have a strong pop sensibility. Sometimes it'll be just an acoustic guitar and Kazuhiro Momo's raw but well tuned vocals, other times a trance-like electronic track, or a horn section, or a combination of just about everything. They aren't afraid to throw all tonality out the window one minute, only to settle back into pure pop bliss the next.

Every album takes a slightly different direction (though not nearly as wide as, say, Coaltar of the Deepers), while at the same time making perfect sense in the discography as a whole. This is particularly evident on the 2007 release C.O.W. (Check Out World) which has very prominent electronic elements, like drum machines and heavy use of synths. There are also several counterpoints to the more electronic tracks, keeping it from simply being their "experimental electronic album." They are a band that has slowly evolved over the years from a young punk band to a much more mature and well rounded rock band who isn't afraid to do whatever they want with their music.

Through it all is a welcome sense of humor and a very strong handle on the songwriting, making Mo'some Tonebender much more than your average screaming noise rock. They prove that silly pretty things can be just as loud as the serious ugly things, or the seriously pretty things and the silly ugly things. Well, you get the idea.

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Unhappy New Age

Official Site
MySpace

Members
Kazuhiro Momo - Vocal, Guitar
Yasunori Takei - Bass
Isamu Fujita - Drums

Major Releases
Sing! - 24.09.2008
C.O.W. (Check Out World) - 10.3.2007
Super Nice - 21.02.2007
Rockin' Luuula - 07.12.2005
faster! - 22.06.2005
The Stories of Adventure - 22.09.2004
TRIGGER HAPPY - 12.11.2003
LIGHT, SLIDE, DUMMY - 23.10.2002
HELLO - 21.09.2001
echo - 27.04.2001
DAWN ROCK - 22.09.2000
DRIVE - 15.12.1999

流星群 - Live