Fujifabric

A Japanese outfit whose sound evokes Western sensibilities, Fujifabric notched multiple Oricon Top 20 singles and albums by merging alternative rock with power-pop modeled after Weezer while incorporating disco, surf, and rockabilly ingredients. Several high-school classmates, among them guitarist Shimura Masahiko and drummer Takayuki Watanabe, launched the project in 2000 and borrowed its name—originally rendered as two separate words—from a fabric plant belonging to Watanabe’s father. What began as a cover band turned into a committed endeavor once Masahiko and Watanabe relocated to Tokyo in 2001, at which point Tadokoro Sachiko, Kato Yuichi, and Akira Hagiwara came aboard and the group adopted the single-word spelling Fujifabric. Those three newcomers departed the following year, yet the band still issued its first release, the EP A la Carte (2002), and followed it with A la Mode (2003), now featuring keyboardist Daisuke Kanazawa and bassist Shinichi Kato as stable members.

The EPs attracted major-label interest, leading to a 2004 contract with Toshiba-EMI that coincided with Watanabe’s exit over “creative differences”; Adachi Fusafumi stepped in on drums. Fujifabric rounded out its “A la…” EP series with A la Molto (2004) before delivering a self-titled debut album that reached the Oricon Top 20 the same year. Its follow-up, Fab Fox, arrived in 2005 and climbed to number eight, supported by three hit singles, one of which—“Shinkirou”—appeared on the soundtrack to Scrap Heaven. A subsequent two-year creative break saw Fusafumi depart, yet the remaining members resurfaced in 2007 with “Aoi Tori,” which peaked at number nine and featured in Nightmare Detective, and “Surfer King,” which reached number 23 and was cut with the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra. Both tracks appeared on the band’s third album, Teenager, released in early 2008 and peaking at number 11.