Music
Press
"...Yakuza are spiritual nirvana by the way of the riff..." - David Roy - The Irish News
"...not for the first time, you are left with the feeling that you've witnessed something truly special. Anyone who thinks that this isn't one of the finest bands in the country is arguing against an inpenetrable wall of sound..." - Philip Crossey - Alternative Ulster Magazine
7/10 - Hot Press
4 Stars - The Sunday Tribune
31st Best Album Of 2004 - Alternative Ulster Magazine
Discography
"Everyone Thinks I'm A Dinosaur" Single 2002
"One Nation Under Awed" Album 2004
Photos
Bio
Yakuza burst out of DC (Dungannon + Coalisland) in the Autumn when school friends Ronan Quinn (guitar and vocals) David Mc Cann (guitar and vocals) and Philip Mc Kernan (bass) started organising informal jam sessions for local musicians in The Venue Bar in Coalisland. These jam sessions soon evolved into proper gigs in local pubs and bars involving many of the bands that had formed out of the jam sessions. At first employing a revolving door policy towards drummers that would put Spinal Tap to shame, Yakuza finally settled on a permanent line up with the recruitment of James Mc Donald.
After this Yakuza started to became a more serious concern and and the band moved en masse to Belfast. Influenced in equal measures by the experimental noise meltdown of Sonic Youth, the melancholy country feedback of REM and the demonic rock 'n' roll boogie of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, the band set about composing an intelligent, emotive and powerful set of songs that embraced these disparate influences while seeking to transcend them, a quest which informs their songwriting process.
The current line up debuted at The Duke of York in Belfast in October and immediately began to cause a stir. In December the band entered Green Dolphin Studios in Belfast to record their first ever demo "Hatemonkey." Time has not been kind to "Hatemonkey" and hindsight has revealed it to be "a piece of shit" but it still sold out it's two hundred copy run in a matter of weeks, thanks in part to a positive response from local press:
"...a fine mix of Sonic Youth, Jon Spencer and The Fall, Yakuza are adventurous and work, for that they should be applauded ..." Blank Magazine.
"...not just guitar strumming punk wannabes but talented young guitar strumming punk wannabes.." Uberdog Magazine.
Factfans take note: Hatemonkey was followed by the live EP "Silent Violent" which quickly sold out also. And this brings us to the release of the band's debut album "One Nation Under Awed". A fiery, inventive fusion of all things good about independent rock which it's hoped will see Yakuza taking their unique sound to a bigger audience.
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