Japanese promos, part 3 (for previous episodes, check my reviews of the Aggressive Dogs EP and the Gunship666 full-length), and yet again a change of pace: leaving behind all Hardcore pretenses, and going for an internationally tainted modern Hard Rock sound with added Dance elements through the inclusion of lavish synth sounds...here's Loka from the town of Sekagaya!
Loka is a rather recent addition to the Japanese scene, having been founded in early 2012 by the duo of singer Kihiro (ex-Supe and Undivide) and drummer KEN'ICHI (ex-Sex Machineguns), who hire session musicians to record their debut EP 01 (released August 8, it was preceded by non-album track/ digital single Make It Through, released in March) and perform its first shows (debut show done June 9). With a nationwide tour starting in September, the band (still duo + support members) releases its debut album EnFLAME in November, and continues its tour (a total of some 40 shows) until the end of the year...selling out the initial 1000 copies of their album in the doing!
2013 came, and with it the addition of bassist Katsumi (formerly of Clayfish) to the official line-up. Kicking off another nationwide tour, the band also sees opportunities to play 10 shows outside Japan, these including performances at Taiwan's Formoz Festival, and a two-day festival in Indonesia. Along the way, the band gets an offer to undertake a short European tour in November which, among others, finds the band play at the well-attended (over 3,000) Japan Expo Belgium, and do headliner shows in Germany and Austria. Returning home, Loka ends the year with a very successful hometown show. On the releases-side, the band released digital singles for an acoustic version of album track “Alive”, a piano remix of 01 track “Don't Ever Leave Me Out” in May, for the previously unreleased track “From Yesterday” in June...and in July the full-length compilation album Criss x Cross essentially brings a re-print of EnFLAME, without its track “Python” and the original version of “Alive”, but with addition of the aforementioned singles, barring “From Yesterday”, and adding 01 tracks “Everybody Rock 'n' Roll” and “Naked To My Soul”.
2014 announced itself, and the band took out time to write new songs and record 'em, and plan a new European tour, which finds the band playing 16 shows in 10 countries in 25 days during June and July. In addition to headliner shows in Germany and Austria (like the year previous), the band also did headliner shows in Poland, the Czech Republic, Holland, and France...where they also played at Japan Expo France. The guys also returned to Belgium, playing at Liège's Le Garage. The band, now strengthened with the presence of former Wizard guitarist Sin, is set to hit the road again for lavish touring of Japan, starting this August 8 and going on through the rest of the year.
Which brings us to the material at hand...right?! Expect catchy singalong tunes, with relatively clean vocals done in perfect English (not that evident for a Japanese band!). Expect most songs to have some synths or electronics in 'em (how the band performs those songs without making the singer responsible for 'em, or by using pre-recorded material...you know!) in a variety of degrees. Expect the band to bring in a rapped tune (“Ghost”) with enhanced synth sounds bringing additional Hip Hop elements, but not without giving the song a heavy side as well! And, of course, expect a ballad (album closer “Maybe”) with the guitar turning acoustic for the correct mood. I mean, a good Rock band doés think about its possibilities to attract some nice females, you know! We can't live on Rock 'n' drugs alone, see!? (not implying that these musicians have anything to do with the latter...just a figure of speech, you know!?). In essence, except for the album opener “Seiten No Akatsuki” (which along with “Tsubasa Trigger” is the only song title with reference to the band's native origins) with its specific guitar passages, Loka has completely denied its musical heritage, and went for an all-out US approach on Hard Rock...with nevertheless the added incentive of those electronics!
Nice, very nice, and I'd love to see this band perform on stage...that's for sure!