Biography
Emerging like a flamboyant, neon-hued phoenix from the fading embers of the Japanese quartet Going Steady, Ging Nang Boyz formed in spring 2003. Mineta Kazunobu, the former band's driving force as vocalist and guitarist as well as its chief songwriter, assumed the Ging Nang Boyz name for himself, rejoined bassist Abiko Shinya and drummer Murai Mamoru, recruited guitarist Chin Nakamura of Snotty to fill the spot vacated by Asai Takeo, and guided the new lineup through a run of unruly tours. Although GNB's approach recalls the Buzzcocks and the entire Lookout! Records catalog, the group also pursues a pronounced "aesthetic of clutter." Each track, whether a sixty-second barrage or a sprawling ten-minute expanse, packs in more than it can contain, with ideas, riffs, and shrieks colliding in unforeseen combinations. The resulting density captures the sensory overload of twenty-first-century megacity existence alongside the impulse to escape it, softening the sting of the "pop-punk" designation itself.
Nearly two years of work preceded GNB's January 2005 debut on Skool, which appeared as two simultaneous releases: Kimi to Boku no Daisanji Sekai Taisenteki Renai Kakumei (...Young Alive in Love) and Door. Together the pair delivered twenty-nine songs and two and a half hours of freewheeling hardcore laced with punk-charged folk, funk, and pop. The 2003 film Iden&Tity, starring Kazunobu, boosted the albums to sixth and seventh place on the Oricon charts. Both before and after these releases, GNB toured Japan and delivered several high-energy U.S. shows, among them appearances at the Bay Area Cuddle Shows and at Berkeley's 924 Gilman Street. Kazunobu's crowd-pleasing acrobatics and habit of disrobing onstage repeatedly drew official reprimands, including one instance before 45,000 spectators at the 2005 Rock in Japan festival and two more during performances in Taiwan.
In April 2007 the band issued the DVD compilation Bokutachi wa Sekai wo Kaeru Koto ga Dekinai (We Can't Change the World) to document its unrestrained concert style. A single followed four months later. Its anthemic A-side, "Ai Don Wana Dai" (I Don't Wanna Die), reached sixth position in Japan and sold nearly 50,000 copies. The accompanying video attracted notice for its frenzied portrayal of an orgy inside an Internet café.
Nearly two years of work preceded GNB's January 2005 debut on Skool, which appeared as two simultaneous releases: Kimi to Boku no Daisanji Sekai Taisenteki Renai Kakumei (...Young Alive in Love) and Door. Together the pair delivered twenty-nine songs and two and a half hours of freewheeling hardcore laced with punk-charged folk, funk, and pop. The 2003 film Iden&Tity, starring Kazunobu, boosted the albums to sixth and seventh place on the Oricon charts. Both before and after these releases, GNB toured Japan and delivered several high-energy U.S. shows, among them appearances at the Bay Area Cuddle Shows and at Berkeley's 924 Gilman Street. Kazunobu's crowd-pleasing acrobatics and habit of disrobing onstage repeatedly drew official reprimands, including one instance before 45,000 spectators at the 2005 Rock in Japan festival and two more during performances in Taiwan.
In April 2007 the band issued the DVD compilation Bokutachi wa Sekai wo Kaeru Koto ga Dekinai (We Can't Change the World) to document its unrestrained concert style. A single followed four months later. Its anthemic A-side, "Ai Don Wana Dai" (I Don't Wanna Die), reached sixth position in Japan and sold nearly 50,000 copies. The accompanying video attracted notice for its frenzied portrayal of an orgy inside an Internet café.
Albums
Singles