Category: Friction

Early Friction are definitely one of my favourites japanese punk rock. This live 10“ of theirs has nine tracks, recorded in Kyōto in 1979. All the songs appear either on their first 7“, their I Can Tell/Pistol 7″, the 東京 Rockers compilation LP or on their first LP 軋轢. But, especially compared to the versions on the album, these live recordings are a lot more punk than the cold, controlled post punk recorded in the studio. This is noisy, wild, powerful, incredible (not that the album versions aren’t great!). The sound quality is okay, definitely not clean, but who gives a fuck about that? Not me. This is probably Friction at their most powerful, so…

Get it!

I couldn’t tell you why I waited so long till I posted this, since Friction’s debut LP from 1980 is a true classic japanese post punk album. Some lot of their earlier punk stuff has been weeded out, and what’s left is cold, cold, cold. Some tracks off Tokyo Rockers and their first 7“ appear as re-recorded versions. The new version of Crazy Dream especially shows the increased post in the punk.

This is a S/T btw.

This two song 7“ was released on Pass Records in 1980. I Can Tell is a great post-punk song off Friction’s debut album; I really love the song’s cold, restrained, understated vibe. Pistol was an older live recording of primitive and raunchy punk. Damn, that drum kit sounds like its heads have been beaten to shit more than once! Hell yeah!
Btw. Friction’s 1978 demo (with a different version of Pistol) is available on youtube for those interested.

Can you tell?

Friction’s first 7″ from ’79 is a true masterpiece of 70s japanese punk. The music is still a bit more punkrock when compared to the self-titled album they would release a year later. The recording is rougher and more abrasive, and the versions of Crazy Dream and Big-S that appear on this 7″ are faster and rawer than on the album; the LP versions are a lot darker, and pure post-punk.
This version here is the re-release from 2001, which -like the original- came as a vinyl 7″ in an 8″ sleeve. The version from ’79 also came in a yellow cover; maybe there was a re-release in yellow, too?

This is as good as it gets!