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www.staythirstymedia.com or http://www.staythirstymedia.com/200811-027/html/200811-burn-tokyo-burn.html
“Let’s get it on…Let’s get it on…Let’s get it on… Come on! Come on!” Well now, PUBLIC ENEMY effortlessly rule as they forever are one of the world’s cultural biographers and duly encapsulate this delightful terrordome assorted before the “turn me loose” global elation of Obama’s election days later. And well, I must wonder where Barack was when Chuck and company delivered this ’89 classic…
Regardless, Halloween is always good fun in any major city or university town worldwide and in this massive metropolis, it holds its own in assembling an army of revelers determined to project their dark or light side of themselves from dusk to dawn. And Shibuya, the center of Tokyo’s vitality, provides the perfect and most reflective concoction of how Tokyoites embrace this holiday adopted from their temporary hosts from the other side of the Pacific.
While all unravels relentlessly throughout the city, within the famed seedy Dogenzaka district of Shibuya, Tokyo’s ALLIES AND ACES hold their record release party on the 31st titled BALLS PARK. As this notorious night of debauchery gets flavoring in full with compadres PINK JOPPELIN, a pillowcase beyond full of treats are to savor before a changeover to club operations at 11.
Harnessing the savory storm coalesced this night, PINK JOPPELIN bring it as this trio of Hajime Kawauchi (vocals, keyboards and acrobatics), Masao Katagiri (vocals, bass) and Akira Nagahori (drums, vocals) deliver a devilish delightful dish that Colin Clive, Dwight Frye and Boris Karloff would approve wholeheartedly. Just as their immaculate costumes, the thunderstorm they eternally possess unfurls effortlessly to reanimate all present through ‘Faces,’ ‘Heaven’ and more. These three amigos bring all, costumed or not, to courageous experimentation in full amid smiles.
Continuing matters, the unrelenting reanimation ensues seamlessly with ALLIES AND ACES. Alongside the magnificent monster already created, mad scientists Leo Sakamoto (vocals), Daisuke Fujimoto (guitar, vocals), Kenji Usui (bass, vocals), Dean Kessler (guitar) and Tre ‘3’ Packard (drums) make their own “Mr. Successful” for all to devour in full.
Releasing their debut FULL CIRCLE ORBIT in front of costumed guests and not, the voltage goes beyond 11, with all deliciously shocked into full animation with the epic swath of “Mr. Wazanski,” the menacing lean and mean “Wild Blue” and the piercing “Full Circle” giving gleeful operation to all within P.
With no tricks, only treats to be had here beyond, omnipresent wide smiles give a verdict to be fully felt for these native creations that give a full on rebirth.
- Stay Thristy Media
Discography
Full Circle Orbit: Allies And Aces first EP debut late fall 2008
Photos
Bio
With unfortunate frequency these days, heavy rock can be caught between a rock and a hard place – no pun intended. Between the humourless emotional histrionics of post-hardcore, and the self-parodic hedonism of glam-metal, hard rock has become so self-conscious that there's little room for levity or, dare it be said, fun. But now, Allies And Aces beg to differ. Unburdened by such Western cultural baggage, the Tokyo-based quintet crank out muscular & melodic hard rock with a conviction and joy scarcely found in modern loud music. In little over a year since their inception, Allies have become the hardest-charging new band in Japan, quickly winning converts with their diamond-cut riffs and fevered performances. Leading the fray is vocalist Leo Sakamoto, whose firebrand showmanship and pythonic tenor make him a dynamic eye-magnet. He's flanked by guitarists Dean Kessler and Daisuke Fujimoto, six-string craftsmen who deftly maneuver between sinewy crunch and mammoth squall. Kenji Usui pumps out fluid basslines and bounds about the stage like a man possessed; he is the heart beating beneath the band's brawn. Meanwhile, behind the drum kit, Tre Packard packs a thunderous punch the size of his native Texas. Musically, Allies And Aces follow in the footsteps of such '90s hard-rock titans as Alice In Chains and Soundgarden, with steam-rolling rhythms and atomic choruses to spare. But as their debut EP, Full Circle Orbit, demonstrates, Allies update their influences with an omnivorous ear for new sounds. Sci-fi sound effects, uncanny vocal samples, and psychedelic flourishes accent the songs seamlessly. Mix in the dark melodicism of the Mars Volta and the dextrous grit of Queens of the Stone Age, and it becomes inarguable that Allies are no Marshall-stack nostalgia act. Like the spacescape horizon adorning their EP, Allies And Aces look and sound like a brighter – and louder – future for hard rock.
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