Ging Nang Boyz

Like a debauched Day-Glo phoenix, Ging Nang Boyz rose from the still-smoldering ashes of the Japanese quartet Going Steady in the spring of 2003. The original band's engine and songwriter, Mineta Kazunobu (vocals/guitar), rechristened himself Ging Nang Boyz, reunited with bassist Abiko Shinya and drummer Murai Mamoru, replaced guitarist Asai Takeo with Chin Nakamura of Snotty, and led the group on a series of riotous tours. GNB's sound may hark back to the Buzzcocks and the entire Lookout! Records catalog, but the group also exhibits a more unorthodox tendency toward an "aesthetic of clutter." Whether it's a 60-second blitzkrieg or a ten-minute sprawl, each GNB track is stuffed beyond the brim; ideas, riffs, and shrieks appear and blend unexpectedly. Capturing both the sensory avalanche of life in a 21st century megacity and the resultant desire to break free, the density of GNB's ecstatic project makes the "pop-punk" label itself less derogatory. GNB's January 2005 debut with Skool was nearly two years in the making. Fittingly, it came in two simultaneous installments: Kimi to Boku no Daisanji Sekai Taisenteki Renai Kakumei (...Young Alive in Love) and Door. The sum, 29 tracks or two and a half hours in all, is a freewheeling hardcore medley dosed with punk-caffeinated folk, funk, and pop. The success of the film Iden&Tity (2003), which featured Kazunobu in a starring role, helped the albums reach sixth and seventh, respectively, on the Oricon charts. Both before and after releasing their debuts, GNB toured Japan and gave a handful of high-energy performances in the U.S., notably at the Bay Area Cuddle Shows and at Berkeley's famed 924 Gilman Street. Kazunobu's crowd-pleasing acrobatics and his rock star proclivity for public nudity repeatedly landed him in trouble...