GRAVIYAUNOSCH

A ferocious maniacal onslaught of caffeine driven punk and stop start zeuhl with twittering mad man scat singing - and wam bam thank you mam, you've got Ruins pegged down!

Mjeah, well maybe not entirely - I forgot to tell you about the strange avant guarde tendencies of this band often appearing like insanely paced rhythm segments galloping over the prairie like a Japanese cowboy with a samurai sword up their backside.

Tatsuya Yoshida needs no introduction, at least one should think so, since he has been a huge part of the modern progressive rock scene in Japan - punishing toms and unsuspecting high hats in bands like Koenjihyakkei, Seikazoku, Korekyojinn, Musica Transonic and an endless string of unpronounceable bands that I could be typing until tomorrow comes - either way, what you need to know about Tatsuya is that he is one beast behind the drum-kit. He can play with the best of them - poly-rhythmic, loud, fast, jazzy, rocking, off kilter, hazily and everything in between. I'll wager my front lawn that you won't be able to find any sort of music that he can't back up in some rhythmic manner. With Ruins his playing reminds me a lot of a speeding Christian Vander but also to a slighter extent of Bill Bruford - and here I am specifically thinking Larks' Tongues in Aspic. That spastic frenetic all over the kit type thing. Just remember that his style remains utterly unique - even if I use some form of reference points: this guy sounds like he never sleeps, runs in crazy sprints wherever he has to go, eats with his eyeballs and well, he genuinely just feels like a thunderstorm in a room. I'd like to think that he has been drinking coffee ever since he was born...

Ryuichi Masuda completes this duo with some zany vocal attributes, oh well Tatsuya brings those too, and some truly ingenious bass work. Whilst being an incredible funky and low down boogie boy of a bass player - keeping things nice and heavy, - he sometimes goes utterly berserk on his instrument now utilising it as a means of transportation - taking you out in the perimeter where guitars and synthesiser normally only venture.

Together these guys manage to conjure up a power ball of sound that sounds like a sped up sanitarium thrown into a tiny phonebooth - wildly tumbling down a mountainside. Basses ablazing, drums pelting away like there was no tomorrow - and two guys mimicking a pair of drunk punk peacocks.

This is music that exudes power, anarchy, fire, fun and a level of nonchalance that quite openly flips the bird to their home country with thousands of years of cultural heritage up its sleeve. 3.5 stars.