Rosso

Though short-lived, the Japanese supergroup Rosso still registered a clear imprint on the domestic music landscape via their singular mix of punk, blues, hard rock, and virtually every other style imaginable. Their steady release schedule proved decisive as well, allowing the side-project outfit to pack two studio albums and an EP into a mere four-year span. The band functioned as an outlet for vocalist and guitarist Chiba Yusuke, previously of Thee Machine Gun Elephant, and bassist Toshiyuki Terui from Blankey Jet City; together they recruited drummer Masato of the charmingly named Assfort to lay down the debut album Bird, issued in 2002. An extensive tour followed, yet Yusuke had returned to Thee Machine Gun Elephant before the year closed, only to leave that group in 2003. Rosso then regrouped, this time adding Imai Akinobu on second guitar and Sato Minoru on drums in place of Masato, while Toshiyuki remained. The resulting sophomore album Dirty Karat appeared in 2004, followed by the Muddy Diamond Sessions DVD in 2005 and a tour that featured a slot at Fuji Rock Festival, where Foo Fighters, Coldplay, and New Order also performed. Those dates produced the live album Diamond Dust ga Futta Yoru in 2005, but the grind ultimately proved unsustainable; a burned-out Rosso declared their breakup in 2006. The EP Emissions nevertheless surfaced that same year, after which Yusuke immediately launched the kindred project Birthday alongside Akinobu.