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2UP |
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Track Listing |
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This Japanese duo juxtapose stripped down instrumentation
(guitar and drums), with vigorous song structure, polyrhythmic splatter,
and artful overload, resulting in a form of punk rock which has been
buried under a decade of shameless ‘punk’ marketing techniques, and
manufactured music. Its a punkesque ‘fuck you’ to method and control,
yet there’s a precision buried here as well – an almost “math” twist,
which will let the listener know that 2UP is anything but novice.
Roaring through sixteen jagged, misshapen
pieces of punk rock in less then 30 minutes, Tokyo’s 2UP sweat and
wiggle wildly. Teenage Mondo Trash will bring to mind the lost art
of punk-house energy and screwball spirit. "From the most eclectic record label my side of the Canada-USA border comes 2UP, a Japanese band who aim to take that Guitar Wolfy punk rock explosiveness to an even more depraved level. Sixteen songs in under sixteen minutes, with no apologies made. The recording is as crisp as it can be, given the ruckus these guys have come up with. Despite the abrasive nature of this record, and the lack of easily-graspable melody, though, I find it strangely addictive. It has an undeniably intense feel, but also an aura of absolute coolness. The band's philosophy may be primitive but that just makes it inherently exciting. So bend over and let Teenage Mondo Trash rock you. You may be a lot of things after this record, but disappointed is certainly not one of them." - Indieville "Japanese punk/hardcore band 2UP’s album Teenage Mondo Trash screams through sixteen songs in less than sixteen minutes, and because of this, comes off as brief pulses of chaotic noise followed by a few seconds of silence that are the track breaks. The best tracks, like “Sirloin”, take advantage of this, using silence within the track, delineating different thematic ideas separated by brief pauses: towards the end of the track, things come together, and you’re amazed that such a development can happen over the course of a minute. It’s caustic and chaotic music, not for the faint of heart—Be Your Own Pet made the real deal: spazzed-out, stressed-out, frenetic and unrelenting. The singer, Tetsunori Tawaraya, screams over the top in an incomprehensible screech—whether it’s Japanese, or English, or a mixture of both, who knows. His vocal style is shredded, as he interrupts a more conventional punk tenor with screeches of falsetto screaming in almost every 40-second burst of song. The production is raw to the point of non-existence, and the whole thing sounds authentically amateur. Still, it’s the longer tracks like “Torepan” that have more room to breathe, to expand a little into their ideas and, ultimately, offer the listener more. Experience Teenage Mondo Trash as a fifteen-minute onslaught the first time; the second, third and fourth, appreciate the rigorous craft that has produced complex polyrhythms and interesting structures within these micro-song forms." - PopMatters.com "2UP is one of those bands that lovers
of “difficult music” should appreciate, based on their trash punk
aesthetic and anti-songcraft approach. Stripped down to a barebones
duo of guitar and drums, with maniacal, improvised sounding vocals
on top--and with each song clocking in at a minute or less--2UP deliberately
limit themselves in both their music’s content and form."
- Urban Pollution |
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