Butch is a weird nut to crack. This is their second output on Imomushi Records. It's sort of a mix between post-hardcore and... grunge? They played in the same scene as 1000travels of Jawaharlal, whose singer contributes some vocals to one of these songs, but doesn't quite match stylistically. They released an EP after this, Green, which I also have and it is really amazing. This EP is just a little weird. There are some great tracks on here, but also some tracks that kind of confuse me. Anyways, the main guy went on to be in Strange Over the Sun. Check this out for nostalgia sake, or you may totally dig it. I'll post Green soon, cause that EP is great.
I couldn't find any videos thanks to their ungoogleable name...
I don't always make the best decisions, even though I've gotten better as I've matured. August of 2002, I was in Tokyo in the green room at Shinjuku Anti-Knock talking to Kensuke from Nine Days Wonder. In the main room, Kulara was playing. I'd never heard of them and somehow in my short-circuiting brain, I thought that meant I wouldn't like them/they weren't any good. I peeked out from the room a couple of times to see the vocalist pounding on some bongo drums, but that was it. Yes... I had the chance to see Kulara and instead stared warily at a drunk guy in the corner and chatted with a dude who would ignore my emails thereafter and order me to take his band's live videos off my Youtube channel. I'm a fucking idiot (or was... well, probably still am).
Somehow, when I saw this CD in a record store some time later, I had the foresight to pick it up. Packaging was the first to catch my eye, I'm sure. It's a (fairly) solid piece of cardboard perfectly cut to hold a CD in. It was shrinkwrapped, but I was in awe with how they'd put it together.
Once I got home, I was again surprised by the music. 2 songs, roughly 30 minutes (doing this from memory), but the song structure wasn't post-rock or anything. Kulara takes this chaotic song structure and stretches it over two long 10-15 minute songs. It's amazing. A multitude of instruments, riffs, dynamic structures are spread throughout. I even wrote a paper about this in my college music class (I tried to find it, cause it would be funny to post, but it was garbage anyways). Later I would get the collected CD from Waiting For An Angel, and kind of prefer their early songs better (due to my musical ADHD), but this release is really Kulara's masterpiece. The pinnacle of the structures they were trying to form.
Members went on to be in As Meias, Hununhum, and Z (I think Z, not 100% sure), and honestly none of those bands have matched up to the originality and perfection that was Kulara. Here is one of threepennie's legendary videos of the group:
The year is 2000. You are in a Japanese band releasing it's first full length on a renowned international record label. What do you do? That's right, start your fuckin album off with some final fantasy keyboard shit!
You might say, "that's not final fantasy, it's more like black metal," but the end of that intro track is the straight up opening theme to every final fantasy since the first one, so shut up.
State Craft follows up the rest of the album with the best metal / NYHC cross-over yet seen. The exact science of how they put it all together is fairly unknown, however. Other bands have obviously done the same throughout the world, but State Craft came out the other end with such a unique interpretation that it really created a whole new genre. The intense melodic sensibilities cannot be overstated enough. Most bands running with these influences never stray far from open-E chugging. State Craft does not take the bait and crafts truly powerful melodies that run throughout all their songs. Dual guitars riffing together while the rhythm section rumbles through complicated time structures is just the way they do it.
It feels like there is a lot to write about State Craft, but I either don't have all the knowledge (I'm not too keen on the history of NYHC or metal, so even my description as a crossover of those two is flimsy) or there are simply no words to describe it. State Craft is just amazing. In some ways, they are THE band for people who don't care much for NYHC or metal (like I was a few years ago). There is so much in their music, I think you can find something you like in there.
Here's that debut album from 2000. It actually is still available in CD and vinyl, so pick up a copy if you like it: Goodlife Records
Here's a pretty crazy video. I've never seen that many kids at a Japanese hardcore show.
