JACKS

And while I'm scratching my head as to why this record gets so much love from music fans, I must admit this one is a little different. It sure has it's fans, and has been re-issued an insane amount of times right into the 2020's. A sought after release if there ever was one. In my world this is a good album, but I wish there was some dynamics or experimental stuff.

I have to mention the drummer who was the only multi-instrumentalist in the band. He would form a few bands after JACKS broke up including FLIED EGG and FOOD BRAIN. He released a couple of solo albums as well before tragically passing in 1980 at 31 years of age.

I have a dozen or more psychedelic albums from Japan that I feel are far superior to "Vacant World", but it was good to spend some time with it regardless.

I'm amazed at this album's freshness, never discoloured even over 40 years after. JACKS could not live long in the end of 1960s and we can understand easily - they had kept their policy and originality not to accommodate themselves to commercialism or popularity (on the contrary their policy itself might disband them in the following year in my humble opinion). An intense impact or shock can come just from the beginning - the first track "Marianne", that can knock violently us down with by eccentrically whacked out drums & percussion technique by Takasuke, a psychedelic fuzzy guitar solo by Haruo, a simple but heavily deep bass creation by Hitoshi, and especially crazy Yoshio's lead vocal. By this tune only, we can realize the reason why they must be called as an Underground Rock Band ... over 40 years ago. Basically the eccentric music attitude of JACKS might be constructed by the frontman Yoshio HAYAKAWA methinks and his sticky stony stormy garagey voices could pollute (very cheap and cheesy) late-60s Japanese Rock world I guess - naturally they could not get any adaptation anyway.

Indeed there are some poppy (Japanese Group Sounds-ish as it is said) songs like "Love Generation", but let me say Yoshio's critically mind-expanding voices and their lethal lyrics should continually possess psychoneurosis. Twin perverse guitar sounds by Yoshio and Haruo can remind me Eiji Kikuchi's sharp-edged vibrant guitar in Apryl Fool. "Vacant World", already released as their debut single half a year before (wonder why they had released such a ghostly depressive song as the first shot), is a very impressive one featuring Takasuke's floating flowering flute, eerie guitar solos by two guitarists, and Yoshio's near-death voices ... oops they may kill me seriously as honestly I say. Hitoshi's production "Bara - Manji" can be characterized by a loud guitar solo and funky voices - pester stickily, very doggedly. In the last "500 Miles From The Sky" Yoshio's narration (depressive too) and Takasuke's quiet keyboard sounds can take us into another sky - the heaven. Can we stop breathing till the end of the album? No.

Whatever everybody says, please listen to this terrific album - you can enjoy, and understand the dawn of Japanese psychedelic Progressive Rock.