Buck-Tick

Buck-Tick rank among the originators of visual kei, receiving less global attention than X-Japan yet advancing the genre’s growth to an equal degree while attaining major stardom inside Japan. The group proved adaptable, shifting from bright pop-punk and new wave into goth and hard rock, sampling electronica before circling back to guitar-driven material, while its members joined outside projects with Cocteau Twins, KMFDM, Clan of Xymox, and Spread Beaver.

The ensemble began in Fujioka in 1984 under the name Hinan Go-Go when Imai Hisashi, still unable to play an instrument, teamed with Higuchi Yutaka on bass. Imai switched to guitar and the pair completed the roster with high-school classmates Hidehiko Hoshino on guitar, Sakurai Atsushi on drums, and Araki handling vocals. At first the musicians confined themselves to covers, chiefly of the radical Japanese hardcore band the Stalin, while refining their costumes and makeup. Later that year they adopted the name Buck-Tick, taken from the Japanese term for firecracker, relocated to Tokyo, and started writing original material. Yutaka recruited his older brother Yagami Toll, newly freed from his prior group SP, to take over drums; Sakurai moved to lead vocals and Araki was dismissed for insufficient ability. The lineup has remained fixed ever since.

Buck-Tick performed regularly in Tokyo clubs, maintaining an extravagant look highlighted by foot-tall dyed hairstyles, and issued their debut album Hurry Up Mode in 1987 on the independent label Taiyou Records. Major companies soon pursued the band, which chose Victor for the artistic latitude it offered. The resulting second album, Sexual XXXXX! (1987), climbed to number 33 on the Oricon chart despite being their first major-label release. Seventh Heaven appeared in 1988, and for Taboo (1989) the group recorded in London; the city’s somber mood helped them move beyond brief pop-idol status without sacrificing their audience.

Television spots and commercials followed, and Imai’s 1989 LSD-related arrest, which brought only a suspended sentence, caused no lasting setback. In 1990 the band delivered Aku No Hana (Flowers of Evil), inspired by Baudelaire and their strongest seller to date, fully embracing gothic textures and solidifying their standing. The album was preceded by a Tokyo Dome concert before 50,000 fans, an event that became an annual occurrence. Three further albums issued between 1991 and 1995 stayed within the dark visual kei framework, exploring philosophical and conceptual themes while continuing to succeed commercially. Also in 1990 the band released an album of symphonic reinterpretations performed by the Berlin Chamber Orchestra, and in 1992 they re-recorded earlier songs for a greatest-hits collection.

Buck-Tick entered a turbulent phase in 1996 with the cyberpunk-leaning Cosmos, which introduced electronic elements. That same year Sakurai nearly succumbed to peritonitis while on a photo shoot in Nepal. In 1997 the group left Victor for Mercury/Polygram, which issued the similarly cyberpunk-tinged Sexy Stream Liner featuring occasional Theremin. Their 1998 single “Gessekai” appeared in the anime series Nightwalker, bringing the band to Western listeners, yet activity slowed afterward. The next full-length, One Life, One Death, arrived only in 2000 amid side projects and a switch to BMG.

The band regained momentum in 2002–2003 with the linked albums Kyokuto I Love You and Mona Lisa Overdrive, the latter titled after a William Gibson novel and marking the close of their cyberpunk chapter. Another stretch of solo work preceded a decisive turn toward goth music and visual presentation on Juusan-Kai Wa Gekkou (2005) and its tour, which incorporated an elaborate stage production with a clown and a ballerina. Their 1993 song “Dress” was placed in the anime Trinity Blood in 2005, and in 2006 they contributed “Kagerou” to xxxHolic while marking the twentieth anniversary of their major-label debut with an extensive tour and a covers album that included Abingdon Boys School plus members of Luna Sea, Glay, and Thee Machine Gun Elephant. Tenshi No Revolver followed in 2007, returning to straightforward alt-rock, a direction continued on the 2009 release Memento Mori.