Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2012
Japan has its preening, primping pop stars, but then there are bands like White Ash. The quartet looks like any of the legions of guitar-wielding dweebs you see making their way to and from the practice studio hives that dot the nation’s busier districts.
Fronted by the bespectacled, hoodie-wearing Nobita on guitar and vocals, White Ash, for lack of a better descriptor, rock. They don’t make any pretensions to stylistic sophistication on their debut album Quit or Quiet, but neither is it crude or uninformed.
Against the churning drums and protean bass of rhythm section Gou and Aya, Nobita wails with an abandon that belies his unassuming demeanor. The leadoff track “Jails” is a crunchy, catchy morsel of modern day hard rock, while “Deadmans on the Dancefloor” yokes the punk-funk of the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Led Zeppelin’s latter-era prog-rock.
For the promo pic for their current, sold-out tour White Ash have chosen to depict themselves as a quartet of dreadlocked African American types. In one fell swoop they seem to be mocking both their name and the larger silliness that is band promo shots in general.
While their ongoing “one man” tour may be sold out, tickets can still be had for “Live Dragon Gate,” a showcase for bands that perform on NTV’s Onryumon (“Music Dragon Gate”) music television program. Joining them are instrumental post-rockers Té, pop outfit Mowmow Lulu Gyaban and openers The Nampa Boys.
