Gomess [ゴメス in a curious case of inverted katakana translation] was a second-wave generation Japanese punk band, way later in time than the proto-punk scene developed along the radicalized Zuno Keisatsu [頭脳警察] and the 70's first wave gathered at the historic Shinjuku Loft (who attracted the noisiest bands around the quartiez of Kabukicho, such as Friction). That being the case, this album has better sound production than most early Japanese punk bands, and significantly improved vocal arrangements, given the fact that coexisted with the significant new wave boom of 80's Japan. It's also way better than their first work, an obscure 7'' flexi with 3 songs, that included a punk cover of Let It Be in nightmarishly pronounced English and a song titled 'Jim Niteshade' (is that a reference to Bradbury's 'Something wicked this way comes?'). Musically good, this early and self-produced flexi anticipated what was to be a solid formation: 永井久恵 [Hisae Nagai] on female vocals and 山田修 [Osamu Yamada] as lead guitar, founders and main composers of the band, backed by Hana (bass) and Maziboo (drummer). So solid in fact that their collaboration continues to this very day, in what represents an absolute exception of any 80's punk band.
By 1986 they signed with R.B.F. Records, home to other wonderfully talented bands such as キャ→ and G-Schmitt, releasing the 8'' Unaffected Nation, also to be loved. Just one year later you get this Demonstration, their first and last mini album to this very day and let me say something: if a band continues on the road making shows off of a 30+ years old album, you bet it's a good one. And you'll win, for this 6 songs are a rush of fantastic and frenetic music and the prospective of you getting tired of them by the second listening is highly unlikely. Titled in English (significantly better pronunciated in short choruses), the setlist is great from beggining to end, and in fact the very start, Go A Bomb! is easily the best song here and the perfect first track in many respects: short, addictive, and summarizes the whole style of Gomess. Hisae's unconventional voice runs smoothly, backed by a crazy good bass and frenetic drumming. Apparently its reaching alternative radio stations gave the band enough recognition to keep going in the musical business. War To The Knife may be less uplifting but runs as fast as a progressive or even heavy metal track, with somber yet energetic voice work that grants a great live version. As the album's leaflet gives a wink to Nguyễn Ngọc Loan, it may be a Vietnam-inspired track. Yeah Yeah Yeah is, as expected of its name, a bridge theme between the A and B sides: lots of choruses in a 1-minute track.
Shadow Factory, despite its name and theme, is probably the catchiest track, with unreal guitar work and genuine punk tempo in drums; sing-along granted. God Bless Me is one of these few songs in which chorus and verse are equally good; perhaps the most poetic track if my Japanese is enough to understand as much as I think. The last track, and this constitutes perhaps my only reserve, Vox Populi is comparatively lacking to the rest of the album: a different structure would have induced a second hearing to most people; not that it matters, as only a short-sighted psychology would judge an album by the last impression received from it. Overall a fantastic work, the album was musically produced by the band themselves at R.B.F's studio, with assistance only related to artwork and chorus singing. Since the 80's the band is essentially a live project, as they themselves release free-download tracks of many of their songs in the official site: '/discography' if interested (a generosity of spirit worthy of the DIY ethos). In summary, this is overall an extremely privileged door
to Japanese punk, even if Gomess is an obscure musical project compared to incendiary and political 80's projects such as The Stalin. Finding their complete material, including collaborations is hard, yet worth your time. As the whole of ゴメス is alive and well, there's the scrap of a chance they release new material; yet, the Japanese music industry (second of this world) has radically changed its ways and constitutes an uphill battle for non-idol oriented projects.
Comments
Post a Comment