Non Band Vibration Army / Silence-High-Speed 7″
Two tracks that were recorded by Japanese art-punks NON BAND in 1981, but ultimately left on the cutting room floor when they released their self-titled 10” the following year. Rhythm completely guides the songs, with hypnotic tom-centered beats tumbling behind see-sawing violin scratch, elastic-snap bass grooves, and vocalist/bassist Non’s flipped-out baby doll chatters and shrieks—a splintered no wave deconstruction of (punk) rock-descended sound, but one that’s more playful and freewheeling than skronking and confrontational, sort of like the RAINCOATS by way of DNA (if you want to be reductive). Both sides are absolutely killer, and as a bonus, the 7” comes with a beautifully laid-out 48-page booklet/magazine full of archival photos of the band taken by Yuichi Jibiki, who was responsible for backing some of the wildest Japanese post-punk of the early-to-mid-’80s through his label Telegraph Records. It’s a German import and not cheap, but absolutely worth every penny and any effort involved in obtaining a copy. Do it!