About “The John's Guerrillaâ€
English reviews about The John's Guerrilla......
If one judges the state of modern Japanese music based solely on pop stations and music video networks the future seems bleak for any groundbreaking meaningful music to emerge out of the land of Nippon.
However, when the surface of this modernized and mainstream friendly culture is scratched you begin to hear the sounds of a thriving indie music culture beating its war drums and crying out for a musical revolution.
In come The John’s Guerrilla a band hailing from Tokyo whose band members Leo Imamura, Ryoji Tonegawa, Kaname Ishii, and Junichi Kamegaya raise middle fingers high and revolt against the musical powers that be screaming sex drugs and rock and roll.
Musically there sound can be likened to the sounds and vibe of the 70’s, with its heavy guitar riffs and melodic hooks, but the band has obvious musical influences ranging from classic rock roots The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin to more modern a modern sound coming from UK post punk.
‘Nicole and Rosewood’ blends the already established riff and hock heavy sound established on other tracks with a slightly more mature vocal and lyrical effort.
The song itself builds in stages akin to sex, rock and rolls iconographic image - excitement, plateau, orgasm, and then resolution.
The song ‘All Tomorrow’s Genius’ evokes the spirit of Led Zeppelin and spills forth guitar solos and psychedelic riffs pleading for ones very own chemical romance to heighten the experience.
‘Purple People Poetry’ with its higher tempo overlaid with haunting melodic lyrics envelopes one rhythmically until the song distinctly changes directions to a more frantic paced and erratic sound…think of The Guess Who’s ‘No Sugar Tonight’ laced with Red Bull and nicotine.
In their live show The John’s Guerrilla delivers as good of a show as one would expect from a small intimate gathering of people who truly love their music.
The band itself is charismatic and the style and image they incorporate does the music they love justice in feeling and message.
For a group of independent young artists, if they can continue creating solid pieces of music, their future seems bright and hopefully that shines as one of the many lights at the end of the tunnel for Japan’s lackluster pop music culture.
To say that the 4 new tracks The John's Guerrilla recorded on their new demo are a shift in creative direction could be somewhat of an understatement.
These new tracks incorporate a marked increase in the use of distortion, mixing effects, and audio samples reminiscent of the late 70's and early 80's as well as some higher tempo rhythms similar to The Who’s ‘My Generation’ or even the classic ‘Magic Carpet Ride’ by Steppenwolf.
Not departing from their noticeable 70's rock influences the tracks still have a definite psychedelic groove but also incorporate a more modern sign of the times alt rock flavour.
The first track, ‘Shoot the Radio’, tunes the listener in and opens with a sample which leads into a catchy base line and solid guitar hook.
The singer’s raspy howl comes in and out throughout while the chorus first rises to the sounds of the guitar and dropping to meet the bass line.
For some reason this writer feels it almost opens in a way reminiscent of ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ by U2 but then morphs into the melodic style the first songs from their first CD are credited for.
The second track, ‘Evil Steps’, starts with yet more of this demo's signature effect driven sound which then leads into the hook right off.
Main lyrics aside the main drive of this song is defiant energy and speed which seems like a race to the finish from beginning to end....go speed racer go.
Track 3, ‘When the Sun Goes Down’, conjures sounds from the 60's with a tambourine fueled party vibe tailored made, and perfect for, getting a crowd movin at a gig.
And finally Track 4, ‘Shadow Disco’, rounds out the demo with definite flavours of a solid base line reminiscent of the White Stripes ‘Hypnotize’ on the Elephant CD and the chorus even sounds like its breaking into the genre of Punk/Metal.
All in all the demo for The Johns Guerrilla is a step in the right direction in terms of creative growth and trying to forge a style all their own. 'Shoot the Radio', 'Evil Steps', 'When the Sun Goes Down', and 'Shadow Disco' incorporates more guitar distortion effects, an upbeat bass rhythm tempo and a definite faster, harder, mature sound.
This demo stands as an achievement for this up and coming indie band from Tokyo.
I hope they continue to take their evil steps on their way to giving us their unique vision of what rock is to them.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　Michael Dalla Costa..
These's pics taked by Syunsuke　Shiga.