were a Japanese
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
band active from 1997 to 2010. During all promotional appearances, their faces are masked by drawings resembling themselves as printed by a
dot-matrix printer
Dot matrix printing, sometimes called impact matrix printing, is a computer printing process in which ink is applied to a surface using a relatively low-resolution dot matrix for layout. Dot matrix printers are a type of impact printer that p ...
.
History
Beat Crusaders, commonly abbreviated BECR, was founded at the end of 1997 by Tōru Hidaka, as an experimental U.S. Lo-Fi Indie Rock unit. The rest of the band later joined as a result of continual experimental gigs performed around the
Shimokitazawa area of Tokyo. Their creative use of analog synthesizers and an old Casiotone, incorporated with influences of such bands as
Weezer
Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Brian Bell (guitar, keyboards, backing ...
and
The Rentals
The Rentals is an American rock band fronted by vocalist Matt Sharp. Sharp has been the only consistent member since the group's inception. The band's best selling single is "Friends of P." (1995). The Rentals released two albums, ''Return of t ...
, and at times the dynamism of Snuffesque rock, had transformed them into a powerfully melodic guitar band. By the end of 1998, Beat Crusaders had become known for a crazy and fun live act that was not to be missed. The momentum continued with a single, "E.C.D.T." released in June of the following year which entered independent charts of CD retail shops all across Japan. A month later their first mini-album, ''Howling Symphony of...'' was released; this entered the charts again with various music magazines giving a big thumbs up. Reflecting their chart action and praise from magazines, numerous gigs followed with notable bands in the Japanese alternative/independent scene, from guitar pop and new wave, to pop punk and ska bands. They continued to be busy, with their second single "Firestarter" released in early 2000, and the full-length album, "All You Can Eat". They also were involved in four compilations, including a shared EP entitled ''WXY'', with songs from Japanese punk band Captain Hedgehog.
In August 2003, three of the four original members of Beat Crusaders left the band, to eventually go on to form the band Anita Chili Peppers. This left behind only Tōru Hidaka who later recruited four new members. It is not known why the original members left, but it doesn't seem like they left on bad terms, considering Hidaka included the masks of his former bandmates and his actions (he was crying) in the PV, "Sensation".
Later on, their song "
Hit in the USA" was used for the opening of the ''
BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad''
anime
is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
, which moved the band into the Japanese mainstream. Since then they released several more albums, including a cover album of American and British songs entitled "Music Crusaders." Their song "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" was used as the fourth opening of the ''
Bleach
Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color from (i.e. to whiten) fabric or fiber (in a process called bleaching) or to disinfect after cleaning. It often refers specifically t ...
'' anime. In 2006, the band's music made its first American appearance as the opening theme song, "Hey x 2 Look x 2" (AKA "Hey Hey Look Look") to the
Nicktoons Network animated series ''
Kappa Mikey
''Kappa Mikey'' is an American animated comedy television series created by Larry Schwarz for Nicktoons Network. Despite airing on the channel, it was not a Nicktoon, being produced by Schwarz's production company Animation Collective. The ser ...
''. The single "Winterlong" was also used as the opening of the ''
Hero Tales'' anime.
A full-length CD ''EPopMaking'', was released on May 30, 2007, with 19 tracks, followed by ''Popdod'' on June 4, 2008.
In 2010, Toru Hidaka confirmed that Beat Crusaders would break-up, but promised to release one more album. Titled ''Rest Crusaders'', it was released on October 6, 2010, with 22 tracks of both new songs, old singles like "Windom", and previously released but recent singles like "Let It Go" and "Situation".
Members
* -
vocals
Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...
,
guitar
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
* -
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Wood
* Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
* - guitar
* -
drums
The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
* -
keyboard
;Former members
*umu (real name ) - bass, vocals
*araki (real name ) - drums, vocals
*thai (real name ) - keyboard, guitar, vocals (died 2011)
*yukio Iwahara(岩原幸夫) - vocals, guitar, bass, drums, programs
Discography
Studio albums
Singles
EP/Misc
Compilations
Split albums
References
External links
Official site*
{{Authority control
Defstar Records artists
Japanese alternative rock groups
Japanese power pop groups
Japanese pop punk groups
Masked musicians
Musical groups from Tokyo
Musical groups established in 1997
Musical groups disestablished in 2010