() is a Japanese
experimental music
Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...
project, founded in 1985 by .
Though they are often categorized with
Japanese harsh noise acts such as
Merzbow
is a Japanese noise project started in 1979 by , best known for a style of harsh, confrontational noise. Since 1980, Akita has released over 400 recordings and has collaborated with various artists.
The name Merzbow comes from the German dada ...
and
Masonna
, better known by his stage name Masonna, is a Japanese noise musician. He was born on November 16, 1966, in Miyazu, Kyoto, Japan.
was started in 1987 in Osaka as Maso Yamazaki's noise project. The name is a combination of the Japanese words ...
, The Gerogerigegege has also released albums of more straightforward
punk rock (''Sexual Behavior in the Human Male''),
noise
Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference arise ...
(''45 RPM Performance''), and
ambient music
Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm. It may lack net composition, beat, or structured melody.The Ambient Century by Mark Prendergast, Bloomsbury, London, 2003. It u ...
(''None Friendly'', ''Endless Humiliation''), in addition to several
seven inch records mixing these styles with found recordings. The group is best known for their 1990 album ''Tokyo Anal Dynamite'', a 75-track
live album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
drawing from
grindcore
Grindcore is an extreme fusion genre of heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, extreme metal, and industrial. G ...
,
noise
Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference arise ...
and
hardcore punk
Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...
.
Despite limited coverage during their initial run, due in part to the material's extreme sound and vulgar subject matter, their music has since garnered a
cult following
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
. Juntaro Yamanouchi also ran the Vis a Vis
record label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
.
History
Over the years, The Gerogerigegege has included many members, the most notable and consistent other than Yamanouchi being Gero 30 (aka Gero 56, real name Tetsuya Endoh), an
exhibitionist
Exhibitionism is the act of exposing in a public or semi-public context one's intimate parts – for example, the breasts, Sex organ, genitals or buttocks. The practice may arise from a desire or compulsion to expose themselves in such a mann ...
known to
masturbate
Masturbation is the sexual stimulation of one's own genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation may involve hands, fingers, everyday objects, sex toys such as vibrators, or combination ...
onstage during live performances. Male masturbation is called in Japanese and was Gero 30's trademark. Yamanouchi met Gero 30 at an
S&M club in 1986. Other members have included Toshinori Fukuda (aka Dynamite Gero) on drums, Hironao Komaki (Dee Dee Gero) on guitar, Junko Katoh (Gero Grace Seijoh), their live manager, and Masatoshi Katsuya (Gero Route 66), the band's driver.
The Gerogerigegege is known for their releasing records with unusual concepts, such as 1989's released after the death of
Hirohito
Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...
, which bookended a recording of people having sex to "
Kimigayo
is the national anthem of Japan. The lyrics are from a ' poem written by an unnamed author in the Heian period (794–1185), and the current melody was chosen in 1880, replacing an unpopular melody composed by John William Fenton eleven years e ...
", the Japanese national anthem. A special edition of ''Showa'' falsely presented itself as a
Ramones
The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...
bootleg called ''Britzkrieg '75 (Demo Tracks)'', with no mention of Gerogerigegege or ''Showa'' anywhere on the release. The ''Night'' 7″ features a recording of a man
defecating
Defecation (or defaecation) follows digestion, and is a necessary process by which organisms eliminate a solid, semisolid, or liquid waste material known as feces from the digestive tract via the anus. The act has a variety of names ranging f ...
into a toilet after the usual "one, two, three, four" count. The
compilation album
A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...
''Recollections of Primary Masturbation'' contains 338 songs, including the entirety of ''Tokyo Anal Dynamite'' as one track.
There are also some non-musical conceptual releases including ''Shaking Box Music: You Are the Noise Maker'', which consists of 100 blank
cassettes in a large metal box. ''This Is Shaking Box Music Part 2'', which is a destroyed copy of the ''Mother Fellatio'' EP in a cassette case. ''Art Is Over'' consists of a single octopus tentacle housed in a cassette box. These non-music releases were typically released in even smaller quantities than the music releases, in quantities of 50 or less. Similar concepts are rampant throughout the band's catalog, and often, the more ridiculous the theme or packaging of a release is, the more sought after it is by collectors. Copies of some Gerogerigegege records sell for hundreds of US dollars.
Following the release of ''Saturday Night Big Cock Salaryman'' in 2001, the Gerogerigegege became inactive. Juntaro Yamanouchi had seemingly disappeared and people who had dealings with Gerogerigegege had no idea on how to contact him. Rumors proliferated on the internet about his fate. On 27 August 2013, a
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
post from stated that he had been contacted by Juntaro Yamanouchi.
The first Gerogerigegege release in 15 years, , was released on 20 April 2016 by Eskimo Records, Japan.
Discography
Albums
* ''Studio and Live'' (as The Gero-P) (1985)
* ''The Gerogerigegege'' (1985)
* ''Senzuri Champion'' (1987)
* (1988)
* ''Tokyo Anal Dynamite'' (1990)
* ''Live Greatest Hits'' (1991)
* ''Senzuri Power Up'' (1991)
* ''45RPM Performance'' (1992)
* ''Hotel Ultra'' (1993)
* ''Nothing to Hear, Nothing to... 1985'' (1993)
* ''Endless Humiliation'' (1994)
* ''Instruments Disorder'' (1994)
* ''Piano River'' (1995)
* ''Mort Douce Live'' (1996)
* ''Hell Driver'' (1999)
* ''None Friendly'' (1999)
* ''RRRecycled Music'' (~1999)
* ''Saturday Night Big Cock Salaryman'' (2001)
* (2016)
* ''Uguisudani Apocalypse'' (2019)
* ''Piss Shower Girlfriend'' (2020)
* ''>(decrescendo)'' (2020)
The Gerogerigegege – >(decrescendo) 2020 The Trilogy Tapes — Snows Ov Gethen
/ref>
* ''直美のオナニーと若草寮案内 RE-ISSUE'' (2021)
* ''>(decrescendo) Final Chapter'' (2022)
Singles and EPs
* ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Male EP'' (1988)
* ''All My Best, with Love Juntaro'' (~1990)
* ''William Bennett Is My Dick'' (~1990)
* ''No Sound'' (~1990)
* ''More Shit E.P.'' (1992)
* ''Senzuri Monkey Metal Action'' (1992)
* (1993)
* ''Night'' (1993)
* ''Yellow Trash Bazooka EP'' (1993)
* ''Mother Fellatio EP'' (1993)
* ''Life Documents'' (1994)
* ''Senzuri Fight Back'' (1994)
* ''All You Need Is Audio Shock'' (1995)
* ''Veel Plezier met de Gerogerigegege!'' (1995)
* ''Wreck of Rock 'n' Roll Former Self'' (1995)
* ''Gay Sex Can Be Aids'' (split with Origami Erotika) (1996)
* ''Seven Inches of Meat'' (split with Origami Erotika) (1996)
* ''"Ramones"'' (split with Bastard Noise
Bastard Noise is an American noise band founded in 1991 by musicians Eric Wood, Henry Barnes, and W. T. Nelson. The project started as a type of sister band
to the trio's previous group Man Is The Bastard. While Man Is the Bastard broke-up in l ...
) (1996)
* (1996)
* ''Eternal Energy'' (split with Psyalpinx) (1997)
* ''HGI'' (~1998)
* ''Early Dream Exit'' (2000)
* ''Live in USA'' (split with Crowd Surfers Must Die) (2001)
* ''The Gerogerigegege'' (2017)
Compilations
* ''Singles 1985–1993'' (1994)
* ''Recollections of Primary Masturbation'' (1998)
* ''All You Need Is an Audio Shock by Japanese Ultra Shit Band'' (2012)
References
External links
the gerogerigegege: 56k performance
*
*
The Gerogerigegege
discography at Rate Your Music
Rate Your Music (often abbreviated to RYM) is an online collaborative database of music releases and films. Users can catalog items from their personal collection, review them, and assign ratings in a five-star rating system. The site also fea ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerogerigegege, The
Japanese noise rock groups
Noisecore musical groups
Musical groups established in 1985
Musical groups from Shinjuku
1985 establishments in Japan