Boredoms Return

Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you my taste in music is odd. I do not wear this as a badge of pride because in my mind I have very good, refined tastes. The rest of the world is screwed up, not me. It’s not my fault people don’t understand the Dadaist vision of Japanese noise artists. Among the many underground bands both domestic and foreign, The Boredoms have long stood out as the best thing to ever come out of Japan, right up there with sushi, Haruki Murakami and Yojimbo. Make no mistake about it: The Boredoms are not a noise act. Merzbow, Masonna, those are noise acts. The Boredoms, like Melt-Banana, may dabble in pure, delicious feedback and walls of chaos, but that hardly puts them in the same category as Merzbow.

Anyway.

I got a wish granted in 1999. I saw The Boredoms play a late night show at the Metro, supporting the Super Æ record. It was a fantastic concert featuring Eye jumping around like the newly reborn sun worshipper he has become, Yamamoto and Hira anchoring the sound with their unassuming stage presence and the triple assault of drummers, most notably the lovely Yoshimi, now famous with indie kids as the screaming girl on that goddamn Flaming Lips record. My real wish would have been to go back a few years and catch them when Yoshikawa and God Mama were still in the band. Anyone with a time machine should contact me. I’ll pay.

Xtop and Tony came with and while Tony’s first reaction was disappointment, Xtop could hardly keep himself from moving to the bulldozer percussion. I was simply blissed out to see what was at that time my favorite band playing before my eyes. Concerts can be like that sometimes.

The sound has changed since the early days. Soul Discharge and Pop Tatari still hold up as enjoyable pieces of fast and frenzied chaos, and Chocolate Synthesizer remains the pinnacle of the early Boredoms freak-outs. Sounding like cartoon music and fuzz-punk slop, that record is pretty hard to top. It’s no wonder the Boredoms moved on to different things. Hard as they might try, they could never reproduce the oddities “Shock City” or “Mama Brain”. A lot of old fans have turned their backs on The Boredoms for no longer bringing the alleged noise. They are none too fond of the trance rock/jungle trip sound of Vision Creation Newsun. The Boredoms have gone from being snotty punks to Kraut Rock-esque experimenters to perhaps the most positive, upbeat and even spiritual band working anywhere. Vision Creation Newsun packs more sincere joy and celebration than anything the fucking Polyphonic Spree could ever produce. I’ll gladly join the Boredoms cult.

So they are coming back to Chicago, even though Eye once commented that he didn’t want to play a show in a country that was at war. I’ll have to catch this show. It’s at the Empty Bottle, which is a dive bar with good music. I’ll be able to stalk the members and perhaps get Yoshimi’s autograph. I’m excited. This may be the last time they come to my city, so I really have no choice. I have no clue if it is the real Boredoms or the now truncated version once called Voordoms (basically, the band minus guitar and bass). Either way, I’m there.

Also, Fantomas is coming yet again. This will be my 3rd time seeing them. They are playing with Trevor Dunn’s Trio Convulsant at the Metro and it ought to be a damn good time. I caught Fantomas last year with Melt-Banana on Easter Sunday, which seemed the perfect day for such a show. Oh, and DÄLEK is coming this month as well. Spring will bring good shows and a smile to my face. Something needs to.