Overhang Party - 1, 2, 4, Last Recording
My prior relationship with Japan's Overhang Party is minimal. In high school I listened to X-Japan, Yellow Monkey, GLAY, and Mr. Children. I took Japanese as a second language for four years and developed strong relationships with the half dozen or so Japanese exchange students our school received each year. We traded cassettes back and forth, and unlike my American friends who wrote off all non-English speaking bands, I embraced the free tunes. Japanese culture was intriguing to me and for many years I figured I'd move to Japan and teach English. Alas, the college I attended weeded out their Japanese language program and the hopes of progressing towards fluency vanished.
Lately, I've been digesting Ghost's Hypnotic Underworld and Boris' Akuma No Uta. While I still reserve a place in my heart for X-Japan, the rest of my Japanese music collection comes off a bit silly, especially compared to the musicianship of Ghost or Boris.
When introduced earlier this year to Overhang Party, I was expecting to have missed the past reviews, shows, and interviews. I was surprise to find very little has actually been written about their progression from experimentation in psychedelic noise to underground rock to piano rock 'n' roll. Overhang Party isn't just sorely underrated, but sadly not really part of the discussion when shuffling through artists from a rock/psychedelic/noise persuasion.
Important Records recently released the Complete Studio Sessions. It features 4 CD's from 1993-2003. The first record, titled 1, was officially released in 1993. It proves to be the most free of standard song structures and the most challenging due to the sheer length of each track (average length of 10 minutes). The album opener, 'Twins of Sun', builds upon percussive shakes and taps until vocal chants enter. The voices appear about 5 minutes into the track. It offers a drone-like (possibly bird-like too) element and gives the song a line to work around, through, and/or behind. Cyclical drumming and cymbal crashes end 'Twins of Sun'. It's certainly unlike anything Overhang Party would release in years to come.
The noisier, electric 'Bass Oscillation' follows with deep crashes, wind, and screeching fret work. Not for the youthful hipster who aligns with the populist-indie crowd.
Track three, 'One's Double', offers an easier to follow progression. It's a dark psychedelic number, with distant vocals, electric guitar and bass playing give and take while the drums fill in spaces with cymbal accents. The electric guitar explodes midway through, gently dissolving to haunted vocals, and regaining a sharp ending solo. 'One's Double' is a crisp blueprint for what Overhang Party would later attempt.
'Air', the fourth track on 1, is an amalgam of 'Bass Oscillation' and 'One's Double'. It is equal parts wind and electric dabbling. The feedback is a bit exhaustive, but easy to hear how a band like Boris or even Sunn O))) could credit Overhang Party for their early work within the noise genre.
'In the Direction of the Night' is far more subdued than the previous track. It showcases more bass and echo-led vocals. The song rips open about nine minutes in with another deep guitar thrashing. 'In the Direction of the Night' clocks in just under 13 minutes.
Of the six tracks present on 1, 'G House Blues', (a bonus track not available on previous releases), is possibly the most aggressive. It whirls with a buzzing force and whines with mountain high squeals. When the drums enter the highs and lows weave in a most unstable way. Few of my friends could listen to it in it's glory bound 14 plus minutes. Around one-third of the way through the song, the guitar work increases in speed and technique as the song progresses and achieves a brief meditative quality. This doesn't last long enough, as the psych-feedback blasts return to destroy ears. 'G House Blues' exits with a familiar drone buzz before it fades out.
At the very least, 1, offers an intriguing look into one of Japan's most diversified underground groups. If Overhang Party would have continued down the path of psychedelic-noise purveyors, they would have left a significant mark. Lucky for us, they continued to explore the innumerable facets of rock.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The opening lines of 'Stimulant Night', from 2, are equal parts rock, psych, blues, and attack. The song comes equipped with verses and a highly catchy chorus. The electric guitar leads are still as piercing as ever, but arguably more focused. The final minute displays a grand use of power riffs, solo, and cohesiveness.
'My Blue Heaven', track two, has a familiar, but desired sound. The verses appear to be linked to the dominant guitar albums released during the British Invasion. The solos are the stuff of legends.
The garage rock pusher, 'La Fièvre', borrows riffs from the Stooges, Sabbath, and just about any stoner rock group to date, yet Overhang Party's signature guitar shredding is 100% Overhang Party. I don't believe I would ever mistake this song for anyone other than OP.
'No Traveler Returns', the fourth track on 2, is less bombastic than the previous three entries. The lack of feedback and face melting solos are traded for clean strings and easier heard vocals. The song does pose as potential filler, but works seemingly well when followed by the slow, sludge burning 'Falling'. Overhang Party continue to flex their muscles working within, yet another genre here. The distorted guitars command attention, even when placed behind the vocal leads.
The opening guitar lines on 'Which is the Shadow' spill out dirty blues and electric charm. The persistent riffs are the thickest yet, while the drumming builds as close to a collapsing tempo as possible.
'Dreams Scream Together' blazes for nearly nine minutes. It explodes several times, not just instrumentally, but with the lead singer (Rinji) aggressively singing to a growl.
2 caps off with a bonus version of 'My Blue Heaven'. It has the sound of a live studio recording. The tempo is a tad quicker, vocals less polished, while the guitars try to be all places at once.
Certainly a different sounding record than 1, despite only a year between releases, (2 was originally released in 1994) 2 maintains an equal level of tension between noise and melody. Rinji's vocal contributions are a welcomed addition as is the overall focus on standard song structure. The jams begin to wear out their initial flare the deeper you listen, but it's hard not to rave about an album that pulls from familiar influences and morphs into their own.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The third installment from Overhang Party's Complete Studio Box Set, is not 3, rather 4. Which is a curious choice, given Japan's superstitious view of the number 4. The number four and the word death have the same pronunciation. It is certainly possibly this record has more to do with death than life (look at the title for track four), but I can't translate the lyrics to know for sure. Also, 4 was released in 1998, four years after 2. It's possible album '3' was scrapped. That said, 4 shares more with 2 in overall song structures, but lengthier jams, extra drone, and feedback point to the psych-noise from 1. Vocals are also less used.
'Kizashi' begins album 4, with rain drop piano and a familiar dissonance. The cascading keys and cymbal splashes build with the strained vocals into a melodic piece, that is arguably the most singable song present in this set. Guitar shrieks and freak outs play out the ending, with piano doubling both as melody and beat.
'Le Fou Follet' (The Fire Within) probably gets it's name from Louis Malle's 1963 film about a man committing suicide. The song continues with radio friendly piano and vocals. But more importantly, this track introduces the listener to a stunning violin. Most of 4 will continue to pull ideas from and around the violin, but 'Le Fou Follet ' is easily the standout single for this record.
'Barcelona' starts like a distant cousin to track two. The dizzying opening lines push to the two minute mark before organizing into a lengthy lead. Vocals arrive nearly four minutes in, and the song births true form. Later in the song, the vocals shift to speaking, until the nine minute mark when all sounds fade and reenter with deep piano, and eerie feedback. The cymbals are played as an accent to the haunted ending.
Track four, 'Then The Ship Sank', is the perfect companion to 'Barcelona'. 'Barcelona' ends not on land, but at sea. Possibly viewed as a precursor to what will become, 'Then The Ship Sank' grinds with early fuzz and decay only to emerge with a brightly, confident guitar solo. The high anthem sound builds, giving honor (compliments to the violin).
'Winter Lovers' is more British explosion, but one could argue the main guitar line sounds reminiscent of Lou Reed on White Light/White Heat. The vocals exit in favor of more solos and a locomotive drumming that should derail, but never does, despite the improbable speed reached.
'Mirror' offers a brief vocal harmonizing, but again the focus is on the violin. The music itself (especially the piano pounding) is also very Velvet Underground-esque.
Track seven, 'G House Blues' makes a second appearance with the violin bending and joining in the avant-garde sound. Not as aggressive as a bonus track, but certainly just as head splitting.
The final song, 'Le Fantôme de la Liberté (The Phantom of Liberty), and second to contain French (possibly named after the 1974 French film by the Spanish director Luis Buñuel Portolés), is garage rock from Detroit. It pushes both vocally and instrumentally. A thrashing end to a deeply balanced brand of noise-rock.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The final installment, is comprised of six rare/previously unreleased studio songs titled Last Recording The opening song, 'Prayer of a Fool', is a blend of acoustic and electric guitars. It has a gentle strum pattern and dances between delicate to strained vocals. The song is cyclical like a toned down Lungfish song.
'Wolf, Scorpion, Earth Fang' follows beautifully. The opening high pitched, ringing guitar gives a glimpse at how this song will end while Rinji's vocals sound equally as powerful.
Track three, 'Pyramid', is the fastest played song on this set, and a bit of a head banger. Great for thrashing about.
'Marseille' slows down the onslaught, with a very touching, moody melody. There's pain and concern in Rinji's vocals and in the stretched out guitars.
'Who are you?' begins with a heavy dose of ringing out guitars followed by:
"Mr. A,
Mr. B,
Mr. C,
Mr. D,
Mr. E,
Mr. F,
Mr. G,
Mr. H,
A, B, C
Who are you?
A, B, C
Who are you?"
It yields the most sludge on Last Recording and rounds out a true album, rather than a group of misfit songs. 'Who are you?' is an interesting choice to end with (although a bonus track titled 'Improvisation' does follow). While all 26 letters receive attention, the haunting, repeated question 'who are you?' rings on after a, b, c and x, y, z have been named. With little published about this seminal band, one might wonder the same.
Lately, I've been digesting Ghost's Hypnotic Underworld and Boris' Akuma No Uta. While I still reserve a place in my heart for X-Japan, the rest of my Japanese music collection comes off a bit silly, especially compared to the musicianship of Ghost or Boris.
When introduced earlier this year to Overhang Party, I was expecting to have missed the past reviews, shows, and interviews. I was surprise to find very little has actually been written about their progression from experimentation in psychedelic noise to underground rock to piano rock 'n' roll. Overhang Party isn't just sorely underrated, but sadly not really part of the discussion when shuffling through artists from a rock/psychedelic/noise persuasion.
Important Records recently released the Complete Studio Sessions. It features 4 CD's from 1993-2003. The first record, titled 1, was officially released in 1993. It proves to be the most free of standard song structures and the most challenging due to the sheer length of each track (average length of 10 minutes). The album opener, 'Twins of Sun', builds upon percussive shakes and taps until vocal chants enter. The voices appear about 5 minutes into the track. It offers a drone-like (possibly bird-like too) element and gives the song a line to work around, through, and/or behind. Cyclical drumming and cymbal crashes end 'Twins of Sun'. It's certainly unlike anything Overhang Party would release in years to come.
The noisier, electric 'Bass Oscillation' follows with deep crashes, wind, and screeching fret work. Not for the youthful hipster who aligns with the populist-indie crowd.
Track three, 'One's Double', offers an easier to follow progression. It's a dark psychedelic number, with distant vocals, electric guitar and bass playing give and take while the drums fill in spaces with cymbal accents. The electric guitar explodes midway through, gently dissolving to haunted vocals, and regaining a sharp ending solo. 'One's Double' is a crisp blueprint for what Overhang Party would later attempt.
'Air', the fourth track on 1, is an amalgam of 'Bass Oscillation' and 'One's Double'. It is equal parts wind and electric dabbling. The feedback is a bit exhaustive, but easy to hear how a band like Boris or even Sunn O))) could credit Overhang Party for their early work within the noise genre.
'In the Direction of the Night' is far more subdued than the previous track. It showcases more bass and echo-led vocals. The song rips open about nine minutes in with another deep guitar thrashing. 'In the Direction of the Night' clocks in just under 13 minutes.
Of the six tracks present on 1, 'G House Blues', (a bonus track not available on previous releases), is possibly the most aggressive. It whirls with a buzzing force and whines with mountain high squeals. When the drums enter the highs and lows weave in a most unstable way. Few of my friends could listen to it in it's glory bound 14 plus minutes. Around one-third of the way through the song, the guitar work increases in speed and technique as the song progresses and achieves a brief meditative quality. This doesn't last long enough, as the psych-feedback blasts return to destroy ears. 'G House Blues' exits with a familiar drone buzz before it fades out.
At the very least, 1, offers an intriguing look into one of Japan's most diversified underground groups. If Overhang Party would have continued down the path of psychedelic-noise purveyors, they would have left a significant mark. Lucky for us, they continued to explore the innumerable facets of rock.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The opening lines of 'Stimulant Night', from 2, are equal parts rock, psych, blues, and attack. The song comes equipped with verses and a highly catchy chorus. The electric guitar leads are still as piercing as ever, but arguably more focused. The final minute displays a grand use of power riffs, solo, and cohesiveness.
'My Blue Heaven', track two, has a familiar, but desired sound. The verses appear to be linked to the dominant guitar albums released during the British Invasion. The solos are the stuff of legends.
The garage rock pusher, 'La Fièvre', borrows riffs from the Stooges, Sabbath, and just about any stoner rock group to date, yet Overhang Party's signature guitar shredding is 100% Overhang Party. I don't believe I would ever mistake this song for anyone other than OP.
'No Traveler Returns', the fourth track on 2, is less bombastic than the previous three entries. The lack of feedback and face melting solos are traded for clean strings and easier heard vocals. The song does pose as potential filler, but works seemingly well when followed by the slow, sludge burning 'Falling'. Overhang Party continue to flex their muscles working within, yet another genre here. The distorted guitars command attention, even when placed behind the vocal leads.
The opening guitar lines on 'Which is the Shadow' spill out dirty blues and electric charm. The persistent riffs are the thickest yet, while the drumming builds as close to a collapsing tempo as possible.
'Dreams Scream Together' blazes for nearly nine minutes. It explodes several times, not just instrumentally, but with the lead singer (Rinji) aggressively singing to a growl.
2 caps off with a bonus version of 'My Blue Heaven'. It has the sound of a live studio recording. The tempo is a tad quicker, vocals less polished, while the guitars try to be all places at once.
Certainly a different sounding record than 1, despite only a year between releases, (2 was originally released in 1994) 2 maintains an equal level of tension between noise and melody. Rinji's vocal contributions are a welcomed addition as is the overall focus on standard song structure. The jams begin to wear out their initial flare the deeper you listen, but it's hard not to rave about an album that pulls from familiar influences and morphs into their own.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The third installment from Overhang Party's Complete Studio Box Set, is not 3, rather 4. Which is a curious choice, given Japan's superstitious view of the number 4. The number four and the word death have the same pronunciation. It is certainly possibly this record has more to do with death than life (look at the title for track four), but I can't translate the lyrics to know for sure. Also, 4 was released in 1998, four years after 2. It's possible album '3' was scrapped. That said, 4 shares more with 2 in overall song structures, but lengthier jams, extra drone, and feedback point to the psych-noise from 1. Vocals are also less used.
'Kizashi' begins album 4, with rain drop piano and a familiar dissonance. The cascading keys and cymbal splashes build with the strained vocals into a melodic piece, that is arguably the most singable song present in this set. Guitar shrieks and freak outs play out the ending, with piano doubling both as melody and beat.
'Le Fou Follet' (The Fire Within) probably gets it's name from Louis Malle's 1963 film about a man committing suicide. The song continues with radio friendly piano and vocals. But more importantly, this track introduces the listener to a stunning violin. Most of 4 will continue to pull ideas from and around the violin, but 'Le Fou Follet ' is easily the standout single for this record.
'Barcelona' starts like a distant cousin to track two. The dizzying opening lines push to the two minute mark before organizing into a lengthy lead. Vocals arrive nearly four minutes in, and the song births true form. Later in the song, the vocals shift to speaking, until the nine minute mark when all sounds fade and reenter with deep piano, and eerie feedback. The cymbals are played as an accent to the haunted ending.
Track four, 'Then The Ship Sank', is the perfect companion to 'Barcelona'. 'Barcelona' ends not on land, but at sea. Possibly viewed as a precursor to what will become, 'Then The Ship Sank' grinds with early fuzz and decay only to emerge with a brightly, confident guitar solo. The high anthem sound builds, giving honor (compliments to the violin).
'Winter Lovers' is more British explosion, but one could argue the main guitar line sounds reminiscent of Lou Reed on White Light/White Heat. The vocals exit in favor of more solos and a locomotive drumming that should derail, but never does, despite the improbable speed reached.
'Mirror' offers a brief vocal harmonizing, but again the focus is on the violin. The music itself (especially the piano pounding) is also very Velvet Underground-esque.
Track seven, 'G House Blues' makes a second appearance with the violin bending and joining in the avant-garde sound. Not as aggressive as a bonus track, but certainly just as head splitting.
The final song, 'Le Fantôme de la Liberté (The Phantom of Liberty), and second to contain French (possibly named after the 1974 French film by the Spanish director Luis Buñuel Portolés), is garage rock from Detroit. It pushes both vocally and instrumentally. A thrashing end to a deeply balanced brand of noise-rock.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The final installment, is comprised of six rare/previously unreleased studio songs titled Last Recording The opening song, 'Prayer of a Fool', is a blend of acoustic and electric guitars. It has a gentle strum pattern and dances between delicate to strained vocals. The song is cyclical like a toned down Lungfish song.
'Wolf, Scorpion, Earth Fang' follows beautifully. The opening high pitched, ringing guitar gives a glimpse at how this song will end while Rinji's vocals sound equally as powerful.
Track three, 'Pyramid', is the fastest played song on this set, and a bit of a head banger. Great for thrashing about.
'Marseille' slows down the onslaught, with a very touching, moody melody. There's pain and concern in Rinji's vocals and in the stretched out guitars.
'Who are you?' begins with a heavy dose of ringing out guitars followed by:
"Mr. A,
Mr. B,
Mr. C,
Mr. D,
Mr. E,
Mr. F,
Mr. G,
Mr. H,
A, B, C
Who are you?
A, B, C
Who are you?"
It yields the most sludge on Last Recording and rounds out a true album, rather than a group of misfit songs. 'Who are you?' is an interesting choice to end with (although a bonus track titled 'Improvisation' does follow). While all 26 letters receive attention, the haunting, repeated question 'who are you?' rings on after a, b, c and x, y, z have been named. With little published about this seminal band, one might wonder the same.
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| Overhang Party deserve a release like this. Buy one here. |
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