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Reimagining psychedelic, garage, and experimental rock in resolutely forward-looking ways, Bo Ningen continually surprise their listeners. The band's heavy riffs, remarkably nimble rhythm section, and intense vocals collide and combine in ways that are at once jolting and hypnotic, alluding to prog, noise-punk, and Krautrock while an innate melodic sensibility holds together all of their experiments. Their wild blend of sounds emerged in its rawest state on 2010's Bo Ningen, a debut album that drew comparisons to a host of bands ranging from Can to Nirvana to the Sonics to At the Drive-In. Gradually, Bo Ningen's sound became more refined and intricate on albums such as 2014's III, but lost none of its unpredictability. With 2020's starkly volatile Sudden Fictions, they reaffirmed themselves as a constantly challenging group that counted Yoko Ono, Damo Suzuki, and Savages among their fans and collaborators.
A quartet of Japanese musicians who met in London, Bo Ningen's origins date back to 2006. Vocalist/bassist Taigen Kawabe and guitarist Kohhei Matsuda connected after the bands they were in at the time were on the same bill. Tired of the post-rock they'd been playing with those acts and in the mood for something heavier, they began making music together. After guitarist Yuki Tsujii saw the duo perform an improvised noise set at the LCC Sound Art Faculty, he joined the fold, and the growing band jammed in a Hackney studio for up to 12 hours a day. Eventually, drummer Monchan Monna completed the lineup, and after taking the name Bo Ningen (Japanese for "stick man"), the band played their first official shows in 2007.
Following two years of consistent gigging around London, in 2009 Bo Ningen released their debut EP Koroshitai Kimochi EP on Stolen Recordings and founded the monthly event Far East Electric Psychedelic at the Cross Kings nightclub. The following November, they issued their self-titled debut album, a heavy fusion of psych and garage-rock that won critical acclaim. This praise, along with their powerful live performances, earned Bo Ningen high-profile gigs that included a collaboration with visual artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster at the 2011 Venice Bienniale that was recreated for Yoko Ono's Meltdown Festival. The band rounded out the year with the "Henkan" / "Jinsei Ichido Kiri" single. In April 2012, Bo Ningen issued the Live at St. Leonard's Church EP; that October, they delivered their second album Line the Wall, a more intricately recorded set of songs than Bo Ningen. The band had a busy 2014, issuing their third album III, which featured Savages' Jehnny Beth, in May, and collaborating with all of Savages on that November's Words to the Blind, which captured a 37-minute, Dada-inspired performance from 2013. In April 2020, Bo Ningen resurfaced with a series of rarities, live recordings and remixes called A Found History. That July, the band released its fourth album, Sudden Fictions. Their first for Alcopop! Records, it included contributions from Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie and producer Matthew Herbert as well as some of the band's most structured and accessible music. ~ Heather Phares
