HAPPY FAMILY

Eccentric, heavy, chaotic, avant-garde? skilful. Whereas Ruins, another proponent of Japanese chaos, often just sound like they've thrown a drum kit down the stairs and shouted about it, Happy Family's brand of carnage sounds pretty well choreographed. Particularly interesting to me on a number of tracks is the style on the keyboard ? at times if you listen to it in isolation, you could imagine it being used on a soundtrack to that era's latest Sega or Nintendo offering. But then all of a sudden drums and guitars take over (maybe it's the boss level?). The biggest challenge, although perhaps it's a bit unnecessary, is pinning this down to a 'genre'. Rock & Young, and Shige et Osanna are two examples of this eccentric and chaotic metal soundtracks to battles with Dr Robotnik. The first time you really think of Zeuhl influences is the intro of Partei, which is certainly a Zeuhl influenced Jazz fusion track with a really crunchy bass guitar that to me at least is a classic metal hallmark too. Rolling the Law Court though is more avant-jazz than metal (maybe it's the Frank Zappa brass instruments?), before Kaiten Ningen Gyorai is back to the Zeuhl inspired metal like Partei. Naked King ? the 19 minute thumper ? Zeuhl, RIO, elements of King Crimson, and still sounding like a Sega boss battle. It's a slow burner with some seriously sludgey bass, but unfortunately being this long its actually the first time I'd pass on listening to a track again. The almost standstill pace increases quickly to a chaotic crescendo after 15 minutes, and the drumming in particular is pretty stellar. I wish they'd have ended the album here but instead we're given a minute and a half of piano plinking and squeaky toy noises (drums whisper spacy a very misleading title). With two tracks to go I was on the verge of giving this a really high rating, in the context of Zeuhl style albums, but less impressed by most of the last 20 minutes. Still, a low 4 stars, and a must listen for anyone exploring a niche genre, and who wants a way in via metal.

While the classic prog world of the 70s has been an infinite well-spring of inspiration for generations to come, it is always interesting when the newer bands latch onto the greats of the past and take their sounds somewhere nobody ever expected. Far away in an island country called Japan, far from the initial English scene that spread to the continent, prog admirers were taking a more extreme approach to the 70s scene. HAPPY FAMILY was one of many Japanese bands to take different strains of European prog and sew them together in unthinkable ways. This band formed all the way back in 1987 with the consistent lineup of Kenichi Morimoto (keyboards), Tatsuya Miyano (bass), Shige Makino (guitar) and Keiichi Nagase on drums after they met at the University of Tokyo. The band released two albums in the 90s and then out of the blue reunited for a third in 2014.

Their self-titled debut album shows the common love of Magma's zeuhl rhythmic drive similar to other Japanese bands such as Ruins and Bondage Fruit, however while those bands tended to embellish the zeuhl with their own zany antics, HAPPY FAMILY wasn't happy with the zeuhl influences alone. On their eponymous debut they decorate the zeuhl rhythms with the avant-prog Rock In Opposition sophistication of Univers Zero with outlandish complex time signature frenzies, the harshness of "Red" era (well other eras too actually) King Crimson guitar and bass bombast along with the jazz-fusion and funk influences of early Area that even includes a touch of the Balkan gypsy folk that made them sound so unique. While some influences dominate such as the Area ones on "Rock & Young" and the Crimson-esque approach on "Kalten (Ningen Gyorai)," often all of these elements play side by side in interlocking units of sonic complexity.

Musically HAPPY FAMILY churn out seven tracks that all stand out. Some are dark, some are cheery and some such as "Rolling The Law Court" have a cartoonish feel sometimes conjuring up a Danny Elfman "Simpsons" theme song type of vibe. The tracks are all instrumental and basically extended jams bloated with extreme physical workouts. The most ambitious track is the nineteen minute "Naked King" which perfectly demonstrates the Japanese stylistic fusion in full force. It is laced with eerily dark atmospheres, Crimsonian stomps of guitar power with zeuhl rhythms, jazz-fusion sensibilities and avant-prog jittery counterpoints that add a unique sense of Area's "Arbeit Macht Frei" idiosyncrasies to the mix. The track is off the charts heavy and unnerving but proceeds in a logical manner that delivers some of the coolest instrumental prog there is to be heard. Perhaps it dwells on a wee bit too long in full Crimsonian glory but i actually dig the ballsy gusto on display. The album ends with a macabre piano piece that quickly adds another layer of weirdness to the mix. HAPPY FAMILY put out an adventurous debut of complex prog. If that's your thang, do check this out.

I think the most surprising news for me in 2014 was hearing that HAPPY FAMILY was releasing a new album. They released two studio albums in the nineties and I just thought they were done. I listened to a short audio clip and I was sold. Like their earlier albums this is heavy and complex and all instrumental. In fact after my first listen i'm thinking this is more Math Rock than Zeuhl, I just don't hear that Zeuhl flavour at all on this one. The keyboards don't always do it for me so I would rate their first two albums higher than this one but they are all 4 star records in my opinion.

"Slide" is heavy-duty and quite growly and deep sounding. Angular guitar leads follow and they will come and go. Just an intense slab of instrumental music. "No Talent, No Smell" is another complex piece that is very mathy. I'm not a fan of some of the keyboard sounds but this is an excellent song overall. "Rodrigo" is heavy again with keys playing over top. It does settle some as the contrasts continue. Ripping guitar before 2 1/2 minutes. "Portal Site For Sightseeing" has some light shining in it for a change as we get an almost feel good vibe. Check out the guitar and drum work after 2 1/2 minutes. Amazing! Nice bass lines before 5 minutes as well. This is an uptempo track with lots going on. "Doggy-Human Contest" is uptempo with keys as the guitar plays over top. Check out the drum work as well. Some cool guitar/keyboard interplay around 3 1/2 minutes in then it turns dark and heavy 4 minutes in. Nice. Nasty and growly organ runs follow along with some deep bass grooves.

"Animal Spirit" has riffing and more in this fairly heavy and complex piece. The keyboards are all over it as well. "Cat Riding Roomba" is crazy fast with so much going on. There's a Zappa flavour to this one. It does settle back at times but not a lot. "Celestial Illegal Construction" opens with keys as some kick-ass drums join in. The guitar starts to make some noise over top. I like the guitar solo after 3 minutes here. Not a fan of the synths before 4 minutes though. It ends in a more calm manner. "Tibadabo" is very mathy with keys, guitar and drums standing out. It settles down before a minute but contrasts will continue. Great sound 2 1/2 minutes in with liquid keys then the guitar lights it up before it settles back again. "Feu De Joie" has this heavy and growly sound to start before a calm with keys takes over quickly. Back to the heaviness with organ. Synths play over top in a high pitched manner. Themes are repeated. What a killer closing track.

I was expecting more I must admit but this is still a very impressive album and comeback by HAPPY FAMILY.

The very welcome return of the excellent Japanese band Happy Family. The band released two heavy complex noisy Zeuhl albums in 95 (s/t) & 97 (Tossco) then disappeared. They have now returned 15 years later. All three albums are on the wonderful Cuneiform label.

The instrumental quartet is made up of keyboards, guitar, bass & drums feature three of the members who were on the last album, Kenichi Morimoto - keyboards, Takahiro Izutani - guitar Keiichi Nagasse - drums, and with new bassist Hidemi Ichikaw.

They bring a King Crimson & Magma flavor to distinctly Japanese Metal in a similar vein to Bondage Fruit.

If you like it heavy, complex & noisy look no further, it's a winner.

The second album by Happy Family finds the band honing their Zeuhl style, and adding to their repertoire a substantial influence from the mid-1970s King Crimson circa Larks' Tongues In Aspic. This is, of course, not a combination which lacks precedent; back in the 1970s, Heldon produced albums which showed a very strong King Crimson influence and which at points leaned in a zeuhlish direction, and of course Happy Family's fellow Japanese zeuhl practitioners Bondage Fruit combined the two styles very successfully.

Too successfully for Happy Family's good, in fact - whilst this is an intriguing listen, I keep finding myself wanting to relisten to Bondage Fruit's second album when I listen to it, because that tended to be much more original and modern in its approach to melding the two styles. Still, this one's worth a go if you like this particular mashup.

Happy Family's first album finds the four man set of Morimoto, Myano, Makino and Nagase jamming their little zeuhlish hearts out to produce intricate instrumentals of tangled-up RIO- flavoured music. The technical accomplishment and the sheer complexity on show is impressive, although personally I find that the album begins to suffer from a lack of variation in emotional tone or atmosphere - at plenty of points the band seem to be playing for playing's sake. There are, of course, plenty of people who find that to be more than enough - and such folk will probably dig this album a lot - but for me music needs some context, whether it's an emotion or a mood or a tone or an atmosphere or an idea or a story it wants to convey, in order to avoid degenerating into aimless noodling.

The opening three minutes long opening track The Great Man gives the listener a forewarning of what to come. Then Happy Family fasten the grip and never let's go until the end of this album....... and long after the last tone has rung out.

Coming in somewhere in the Present landscape, me too slightly wonders about this band's inclusion in the Zeuhl genre. But I also understand why they are included. A song like Overdrive Locomotive is leaning very strongly towards Magma. As a conclusion, I would say Happy Family have one foot in Zeuhl and the other one in Avant-Garde/RIO. A great combination in my view.

The tempo varies between frantic and pretty lyrical and gloomy at times. Happy Family also owes a great deal to the likes of John Coltrane too. The music is also epic most of the time. Dare I say symphonic ? Happy Family and this album is surely the subject of lively debates for decades to come.

I do not the quality of the songs are up for debate though. The songs here never becomes uninteresting. There is always something going on. A jazzy snare drum, a rampaging bass, some funky guitars, some gloomy melody lines........ I can go on forever. There is a great deal of variations throughout the album. That makes this album a truly great album and one of the better RIO/Zeuhl albums I have ever heard. Excellent stuff.

4 stars

The opener alone should be an indication as to how wonderful of an album you let yourself into. ''The Great Man'' has to be one of the best ideas laid to tape as the spectacular oboe-like melodies float over your head while the guitars go for the heavy. The rest of TOSCCO doesn't quite live up to the reputation of ''The Great Man'', but Happy Family tries.

Even if the whole of TOSCCO is very avant-garde, mushy and brutal, there always one little melody or line that will stick in your head for some time. The start-stop feel of ''He Is Coming at Tokyo Station'' lets you know the Zeuhl train has arrived and in brutal form. Follow that with ''Picture Book'' and it's funky synths and crashing, trashing metal later on, and you've got a winner. ''Overdrive Locomotive'' is as brutal as it implies, and the metal continues on ''Nord Company'' and ''Filial Piety'' with the latter opening on a memorable wah-guitar line.

Shame that the two longer tracks leave a lot to be desired. ''The Sushi Bar'' may not have bad manners or a bad face, but the taste of nearly twelve minutes isn't exactly pleasing even if the first notable melody is soothing. ''The Three Leaves Insect'' is very epic in nature, but it takes so long to get going that by the time we have gotten somewhere, I've lost interest. Thankfully, a reprise of ''The Great Man'' caps the album on a high note.

This is intense, brutal Zeuhl metal with the occasional foray into RIO, jazz and prog structures. Best yet, TOSCCO isn't a diarrhea mess of complexity even if the sounds make that implication. The description of the ''Toscco'' is quite interesting (see liner notes) even if I can't make heads or tails of it.

I was seriously disappointed with this album. It has a raw ugly sound to it and there are no vocals at all. I guess I was expecting something in the vein of the wonderful 'Koenjihyakkei'. Alas, the two bands are poles apart. Even the childish font on the front and back cover annoys me along with the 'baby' doodlings inside. You'd think that the addition of keyboards would smooth things out a little but they sound like a really cheap Yamaha I had in 1986 that played annoying artificial brass and trumpet sounds.

The appearance of a xylophone on 'The Sushi Bar' momentarily lifts my spirits but a few seconds later the frown appears on my forehead again. Grrr! I'm three quarters of way through this album and I can't wait for it to end. I'm just surprised to see that it has such a high score in the 'Archives' so I guess I must be the square peg in the round hole.

A very irritating experience and an album that has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. I'm just surprised so many people like it. Oh - and another thing - it doesn't sound like Zeuhl either - just an un-coordinated din.

Wow! Japanese usual psychedelic attack on your ears, but this time in very hard core form.

Debut (?) album of this Japanese band contains very explosive mix of angular King Crimsonian guitars, cold militaristic Magma drumming, some chamber RIO elements and freaky Zappa's atmosphere all mixed in one aural attack. Excellent musicianship technique, very calculated compositions. Dark, cold and totalitaristic sound, guitar soloing in this dark place and hammer-like drumming on the front of the sound mix. If you are familiar with less radical Japanese zeuhl bands, just add hard core (big doze) to their sound and you can imagine what is Happy Family.

One of excellent examples of Japanese psychedelic zeuhl with strong RIO flavour. Before listening just be sure you're ready this dark attack will destroy your mind though!