The Gerogerigegege: The Weirdest Band On The Planet?
Juntaro Yamanouchi and Gero 30 regular members of The Gerogerigegege
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The Gerogerigegege (ザ・ゲロゲリゲゲゲ), is a deeply weird and disturbing band founded in 1985 in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo. Where to even start to describe this band is weird in and of itself, never mind listening to or for some poor unfortunates seeing them live. The name roughly translate as “Vomit diarrhoea ka ka ka”, supposedly the sound of someone shitting and vomiting at the same time. Imagine someone decided to take the stage-show of GG Allin, up the amount of bodily fluids on stage, roll around and eat said bodily fluids, throw in some gay S&M and masturbation involving a vacuum cleaner, with a sprinkle a audience members joining in. All done to a soundtrack of experimental droning power electronic industrial noise and screaming vocals that pay homage to The Ramones. And you are getting somewhere close to imagining what a The Gerogerigegege experience may have been like. Often categorised as a Japanoise (ジャパノイズ) band.
In a 1992 interview band leader Juntaro Yamanouchi said, "We organized our band in 1985. The first show we had outside of SM Club was October 1986. " At that time the band consisted of Yamanouchi, Tetsuya Endoh (also known as Gero 30), two ex-members of Grim (a Japanese industrial band) and someone called Mr. Elle. Over the existence of the band members have dropped in and dropped out, but Yamanouchi and Gero 30 remained as key members throughout. Gero 30 being the naked vacuum cleaner masturbating member on the outfit. |
Yamanouchi has a well documented love of The Ramones, and counts "1, 2, 3, 4!" in the style of Dee Dee Ramone, at the beginning of their songs. Which helps listeners tell when one song has ended and another begun. For example on their most famous album Tokyo Anal Dynamite (1990) the only way to tell that there are 75 tracks blasted out in 30 minutes is Yamanouchi's delivery of "1, 2, 3, 4!" at the start of each track. The Gerogerigegege releases their records in very limited editions, which makes them highly collectable. records such as 1988's 昭和 (Shōwa) or the Night EP (1993) push the boundaries of taste. The former featuring a recording of people having sex and the latter which sounded like someone shitting in a toilet, all to the count of "1, 2, 3, 4!" The compilation album Recollections Of Primary Masturbation (1998) has a massive 338 tracks, which includes the entire Tokyo Anal Dynamite album as one single track and whole ten minutes of 223 previously unreleased tracks.
The band also stepped into the weird realms of conceptual art with some non-musical releases. Most famous of these releases was Art Is Over, which simply consisted of a single octopus tentacle taped inside a cassette box. These non-musical releases came out in more limited numbers than the musical ones, sometimes in only quantities of 50 or so. Making them highly sort after among obsessive collectors and lovers of Japanoise.
After the release of their 2001 album Saturday Night Big Cock Salaryman, Yamanouchi and Gero 30 mysteriously dropped off the scene. Rumours abound about Yamanouchi, that he was dead, in an institution or that he wanted to distance himself from his work with The Gerogerigegege. There was a rumour in 2013 via Twitter that Yamanouchi was alive and well and wanted to record again, but nothing has been heard since. As for Gero 30, he'd be an old man in his 70's by now and likely retired to a life of masturbation.
The band also stepped into the weird realms of conceptual art with some non-musical releases. Most famous of these releases was Art Is Over, which simply consisted of a single octopus tentacle taped inside a cassette box. These non-musical releases came out in more limited numbers than the musical ones, sometimes in only quantities of 50 or so. Making them highly sort after among obsessive collectors and lovers of Japanoise.
After the release of their 2001 album Saturday Night Big Cock Salaryman, Yamanouchi and Gero 30 mysteriously dropped off the scene. Rumours abound about Yamanouchi, that he was dead, in an institution or that he wanted to distance himself from his work with The Gerogerigegege. There was a rumour in 2013 via Twitter that Yamanouchi was alive and well and wanted to record again, but nothing has been heard since. As for Gero 30, he'd be an old man in his 70's by now and likely retired to a life of masturbation.
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Tokyo Anal Dynamite (1990)
The ultimate test of musical taste, can you make it through all 30+ minutes of this wall of ear-splitting garbled feed-back laden noise? If you listen carefully enough, you might just be able to hear a "1, 2, 3, 4!" among the aural onslaught, defining one track from another. There are apparently 75 tracks on this album (which was recorded live), the longest of which is opening track Rock and Roll (ロックン·ロール) at a whole 57 seconds. The shortest being the last but one track Die (死ね) at a mere 14 seconds. Though naming tracks and their length seems a pointless exercise. In among the almost unrelenting assault are a few covers, not that you'd know to listen to them. They cover the (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, Light My Fire, 10cc's I'm Not In Love, and Boys Don't Cry by The Cure. |
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Track Listing...!!?
This is the point usually where I'd list off the tracks... With this album it seems a pointless exercise of futility to even bother. The 75 tracks merge pretty much into one long piece of avant garde insanity, with short respite in places for Yamanouchi to breath, before starting another count into the next track. It is claimed that Tokyo Anal Dynamite is the bands most accessible album. It does draw you in, you find yourself having listened to the whole thing and considering listening to it again, just to be sure you really heard what you thought you heard. Music breaks down language barriers. The Gerogerigegege piss, shit and vomit on them. |
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