High Rise is a prime slice of Japanese psychedelia. Pounding drums, repetitive basslines, brief choruses, and of course bitchin' guitar solos. Blend these together into a fuzzy mass of oldschool-inspired fury and you've got High Rise, fronted by the prolific bassist/singer Asahito Nanjo. This is Japan we're talking about, though, and the band (who are still active, I think...) distinguishes itself from its inspiration- the heavy-leaning American power trios of the 70's -by being louder, faster, and altogether tighter than anyone before them. While guitarist Munehiro Nirito's solos aren't as chaotic as some other Japanese rock acts, they are still certainly noisy, and undeniably impressive. Oh, and they form the backbone of High Rise's sound, which sounds petty at first but if you listen to a recording the style becomes a bit more understandable.
High Rise- "Psychedelic Speed Freaks" (low quality youtube)
This is traditional rock at its most intense. High Rise doesn't add much to the formula, yet by maxing out everything they have created a sound that is oft-emulated in the Japanese psychedelic scene and that is virtually unheard of anywhere else. Their consistent sound gets old after a while, but then High Rise is making albums, not operas. This particular recording from an uncredited live show probably captures the band best, and actually sounds better than 90% of their studio material. That's a sign of a competent band, people.
1. Sadame
Good ol' fashioned rock and roll, but distorted, psychedelicized and rife with pretty awesome guitar solos courtesy of Nirito. Nanjo in the meantime sounds like he is singing from beneath a sizeable body of water.
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2. Ikon
Listen to that bassline! How much more classic can you get? It sounds like Blue Cheer if they all did way more drugs. On that note, Nanjo's PAs are still sedated.
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3. Mira
Now we are getting into more adventuresome territory. A pounding snare-and-cymbals beat marches in to back an utterly freaked out 4-minute guitar solo before the beat switches direction and the song descends into...another 4-minute guitar solo. Ha ha ha.
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4. Outside Gentiles
Muted vocals, classic power trio basslines, berserk guitar solos. This is what we call a "formula", folks.
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5. Door
Well that is certainly an interesting beat; how nice of High Rise to let us take solace in it for a few seconds at the beginning before descending into another characteristic (albeit vocal heavy) jam. This one is slower, however, and personally I think the slower tempo somewhat undermines the band's sound. Still OK.
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6. Mainliner
I really like the vocals on this track for some reason. It's not like the lyrics are really complicated or anything (trans: Water and Moon and Sea / Water and Moon and Sea) but leave it to the Japanese to sing about nature over belligerent psychedelic rock.
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7. Pop Sicle
Everything that has been said before is still pertinent here. These guys are an exercise in style, that's for sure.
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Overall: 7/10