The Gerogerigegege

The Gerogerigegege
Native name ザ・ゲロゲリゲゲゲ
Also known as Nihilist Surfin' Group
Origin Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
Genres Avant-garde, experimental, noise, punk rock, musique concrète, performance art, noise rock, grindcore, industrial, power electronics, ambient, drone
Years active 1985–early 2000s, 2013-present
Labels Vis a Vis
Members Juntaro Yamanouchi
Past members Tetsuya Endoh (Gero 30)
Toshinori Fukuda
Hironao Komaki

The Gerogerigegege (ザ・ゲロゲリゲゲゲ) (Japanese pronunciation: [za ɡeɽo ɡeɽi ɡeɡeɡe]) is a Japanese experimental music project, founded in 1985 by Juntaro Yamanouchi (山ノ内純太郎 Yamanouchi Juntarō).

Though they are often categorized with Japanese harsh noise acts such as Merzbow and Masonna, The Gerogerigegege has also released albums of more straightforward punk rock (Sexual Behavior in the Human Male), noise (45 RPM Performance), and ambient music (None Friendly, Endless Humiliation), in addition to several seven inch records mixing these styles with found recordings. The group is best known for their 1990 album Tokyo Anal Dynamite. This album consists of 75 songs, which serve as a fusion of the Ramones' punk jams (replete with Juntaro yelling "1 2 3 4!!" over and over) and John Zorn's frantic Naked City project. Juntaro Yamanouchi also ran the Vis a Vis record label.

History

Over the years, The Gerogerigegege has included many members, the most notable and consistent other than Yamanouchi being Gero 30 (aka Gero 56, real name Tetsuya Endoh), an exhibitionist known to masturbate onstage during live performances. Male masturbation is called Senzuri (千擦り?, "a thousand rubs") in Japanese and was Gero 30's trademark. Yamanouchi met Gero 30 at an S&M club in 1986. Other members have included Toshinori Fukuda (aka Dynamite Gero) on drums, Hironao Komaki (Dee Dee Gero) on guitar, Junko Katoh (Gero Grace Seijoh), their live manager, and Masatoshi Katsuya (Gero Route 66), the band's driver.

The Gerogerigegege is known for their releasing records with unusual concepts, such as 1989's Showa (昭和) released after the death of Hirohito, which bookended a recording of people having sex to "Kimigayo", the Japanese national anthem. A special edition of Showa falsely presented itself as a Ramones bootleg called Britzkrieg '75 (Demo Tracks), with no mention of Gerogerigegege or Showa anywhere on the release.[1] The Night 7″ features a recording of a man defecating into a toilet after the usual "1 2 3 4!!" count. The compilation album Recollections of Primary Masturbation contains 338 songs, including the entirety of Tokyo Anal Dynamite as one track.

There are also some non-musical conceptual releases including Shaking Box Music: You Are the Noise Maker, which consists of 100 blank cassettes in a large metal box. This Is Shaking Box Music Part 2, which is a destroyed copy of the Mother Fellatio EP in a cassette case.[2] Art Is Over consists of a single octopus tentacle housed in a cassette box.[3] These non-music releases were typically released in even smaller quantities than the actual music releases, in quantities of 50 or less. Similar concepts are rampant throughout the band's catalogue, and often, the more ridiculous the theme or packaging of a release is, the more sought after it is by collectors. Copies of some Gerogerigegege records go for hundreds of dollars.

Following the release of Saturday Night Big Cock Salaryman in 2001, the Gerogerigegege became inactive. Juntaro Yamanouchi had seemingly disappeared, people who had dealings with Gerogerigegege had no idea on how to contact him. Rumors proliferated on the internet about his fate. On August 27, 2013, a Twitter post from 解体義太夫 stated that he was contacted by Juntaro Yamanouchi.[4]

The first Gerogerigegege release in 15 years, Moenai Hai (燃えない灰), was released on April 20, 2016 by Eskimo Records, Japan.[5]

Discography

Albums

Singles and EPs

Compilations

References

  1. ↑ Showa (Ramones Edition) at Discogs
  2. ↑ "the gerogerigegege: this is shaking box 2 review". the gerogerigegege: 56k performance. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  3. ↑ "the gerogerigegege: art is over". the gerogerigegege: 56k performance. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  4. ↑ 解体義太夫 (August 27, 2013). "n/a". Twitter. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  5. ↑ "THE GEROGERIGEGEGE "燃えない灰 (Moenai Hai)" CD on Eskimo Records!". Lust Vessel Distribution. Retrieved 23 April 2016.

External links

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