Zazen Boys

Formed by Number Girl frontman Mukai Shutoku and drummer Inazawa Ahito after that band split in 2002, Zazen Boys takes Number Girl's loud and abrasive garage rock assault and turns it on its ear. With even more complex arrangements and a much more improvisational feel, Zazen Boys blends all sorts of genres like rap, dub, garage rock and electro into one continuously evolving mass. Inazawa has since left Zazen Boys to form his own band Vola and the Oriental Machine.

Their improv and free-form approach to performance is the most obvious driving factor to all of their releases. They've produced many live albums as well, further accentuating their interest in letting their music live and breathe on its own. That's not to say they're just making it all up as they go. Their songs usually revolve one or two complex grooves while Mukai rants and raves over the top. His vocal style is perhaps best described as aggressive rap, sometimes devolving into tight fragments of words and sound stuttered and spit out like a machine-gun. But the music is usually far from hip-hop, bring more like fractured post-rock or math-rock, just smoothed out a little.

As much as the band loves to play around in this jagged world, they also toss out the occasional curve-ball. Their latest work features songs that are very synths heavy, with a dark club vibe an disco beats. Yet even those songs have a raw and somewhat lethal sounding edge to them, like a late night drive through a glitzy, yet dangerous part of the big city. Never one to settle down, Zazen Boys are truly one of the you'll-hear-something-new-each-time-you-listen sorts of bands.

BUY ZAZEN BOYS RELEASES HERE

"Usodarake"




Official Site
MySpace

Members:
Mukai Shutoku - Vocals, Guitar, Synthesizer
Yoshida Ichirou - Bass
Yoshikane Sou - Guitar
Matsushita Atsushi - Drums

Albums:
Zazen Boys 2004
Zazen Boys II 2004
Zazen Boys III 2006
At the Matsuri Studio 2006
Zazen Boys 4 2008

"Himitsu Girl's Top Secret"


"Crazy Days Crazy Feeling" (with Shiina Ringo)"


"Asobi"


Weekend"

Vola & The Oriental Machine

Vola & The Oriental Machine is the spin-off group formed by former Number Girl drummer Ahito Inazawa, who also played drums in Zazen Boys, a band formed by Number Girl front man Mukai Shutoku after Number Girl broke up in 2002.

Vola is something of a super-group, featuring former Downy guitarist Aoki Yutaka (who has since left Vola to play in his own band Unkie), drummer Nakahata Daiki from Syrup16g and Arie Yoshinori on bass. All of these expert players combine to form the Vola super-robot. Shedding Number Girl's and Zazen Boys' more erratic, complex and noisy sound, Vola hones its blade to a sharp edge, slicing the air instead of pummeling it. Their songs are pure and to the point, yet intricate and deep. Mostly straight-up rock, they tend to be danceable and driving, with relatively simple drum lines (at least when compared to Inazawa's previous bands) in lock-step with the bass.

Inazawa (who plays guitar and sings, by the way) at times sounds a bit like Sawao Yamanaka from The Pillows, at least when he's actually trying to sing. So much so that when I first heard Vola I had to double check to make sure I didn't get something wrong. Vola is like a very intense and dangerous version of The Pillows. While their songs are often anthemic and soaring, they contain a dark and angry edge.

Much like Dave Grohl moving on from Nirvana to form The Foo Fighters, Ahito Inazawa has moved on from Number Girl to form Vola & The Oriental Machine. It's an apt comparison (if I may say so) and a testament to the huge amount of songwriting talent Vola & The Oriental Machine has to offer.

BUY VOLA & THE ORIENTAL MACHINE RELEASES HERE

An Imitation's Superstar



Official Site
MySpace

Members
Ahito Inazawa - Vocal, Guitar
Nakahata Daiki - Drums
Arie Yoshinori - Bass

Major Releases
Waiting for My Food (1-25-2006)
ANDROID -like a house mannequin (4-11-2007)
Halan'na-ca Darkside (10-08-2008)

羽根の光


A Communication Refusal Desire (Live)


Comeback In Darkness


Self-Defense

Toddle

Toddle is a band formed by ex-Number Girl and current Bloodthirsty Butchers guitarist Tabuchi Hisako. Toddle blends super melodic vocals with crashing guitars and overdriven drums to form pristine indie-rock gems ala The Pixies, The Breeders and other early '90s indie pop rock. Whatever you want to call it, it's loud and pretty and tough all at the same time.

A Sight



Sack Dress

Number Girl

During their seven year run, Number Girl were one of the most influential indie rock bands in Japan, with a wide variety of outside influences themselves (most notably Sonic Youth and The Pixies). At first listen you could be forgiven for dismissing the band due to its very noisy, almost chaotic sound, but further and closer listening will reveal the true genius of the band. Full of complex, ever changing rhythms, they often stray into territory far outside that of typical noise/indie rock, such and dub and reggae, being most obvious in the massive amount of reverb often present on the drums and vocals. Regardless of their approach, every song is exploding with energy and movement, due to each member being a master at their craft. After breaking up, guitarist Tabuchi Hisako joined Bloodthirsty Butchers, also forming Toddle, her own slightly more pop oriented band. Singer and guitarist Shutoku Mukai formed the even more insane Zazan Boys with drummer Ahito Inazawa, who then went on to form Vola and the Oriental Machine.