Japanther

Quite likely the most defiantly artistic group connected to punk since Sonic Youth's formative period—when Kim Gordon contributed to Artforum, Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo teamed with Glenn Branca, and underground film actor Richard Edson sat behind the drums—Japanther shows no hesitation in pursuing elaborate conceptual ideas. The project originated in 2001 when Matt Reilly and Ian Vanek, both students at New York City's prestigious Pratt Institute, began working together. Reilly handled vocals and a three-string bass while Vanek pounded a drum kit alongside electronics that manipulated found and altered cassettes, with each performer singing through microphones built from vintage telephone receivers, resulting in a livelier yet more self-aware extension of the late-1970s no wave movement, tempered by their early immersion in skatepunk that prevented excessive preciousness. Following a self-released 2001 demo, the band issued the 2002 EP South of Northport and the albums Leather Wings and Dump the Body in Rikki Lake. Subsequent releases included the EP The Operating Manual for Life on Earth along with split EPs alongside Sneeze and Viking Club, then the full-lengths Master of Pigeons (2005), Wolfenswan (2005), Don't Trust Anyone Over Thirty (2006), and Skuffed Up My Huffy (2007). Beyond assorted multimedia endeavors undertaken with multiple partners, Dump the Body in Rikki Lake and the conceptual album Don't Trust Anyone Over Thirty—a loose retelling of the 1960s cult classic Wild in the Streets—served as foundations for puppet productions developed with Philip Huber, the designer and operator of the marionettes featured in Being John Malkovich. The group maintained activity through the latter half of the decade, staging numerous DIY performances that fused punk's emotional release with the absurdist spirit of select performance-art circles and 1960s happenings. Their art-school origins remained central through ongoing work with visual and mixed-media creators, culminating in selections for the 2006 Whitney Biennial and the 2011 Venice Biennale. New recordings continued to appear regularly, encompassing multiple split 7-inch releases plus the albums Tut Tut, Now Shake Ya Butt (2008), Rock 'n' Roll Ice Cream (2010), Beets, Limes and Rice (2011), Eat Like Lisa Act Like Bart (2013), and Instant Money Magic (2014).