DMBQ

Take the freak-out attitude of Acid Mothers Temple, make it play by the rules of popular song, then feed it through a '70s Marshall amp fueled by psychedelia and heavy metal and you've got the wild sound of Japan's DMBQ. Formed in 1988 in Sapporo, the band moved to Tokyo two years later and became part of the underground scene. Their initial lineup included vocalist Shinji Masukoin, guitarist Touru Matsui, bassist Ryuichi Watanabe, and drummer Yuka Yoshimura from OOIOO. Over time they became friends with the likes of Guitar Wolf, the Boredoms, and Merzbow, all left-field acts drawn to DMBQ thanks their wild, over the top live show. In 1995 the bandmembers explained their acronym with their debut album, Dynamite Masters Blues Quartet, released by the Less Than TV label. The EXP album would arrive a year later, then in 1997 they landed on the Digital Catastroph compilation collaborating with noise artists Violent Onsen Geisha. DMBQ would keep a prolific release schedule and eventually land on a major label when in 1999 they signed with Sony's Japanese imprint Parco. In 2001 their remix album Resonated featured help from Buffalo Daughter along with Boredoms' member Yamantaka Eye. In 2004 Yoshimura left the band after recording that year's Esoteric Black Hair. He was replaced by former Shonen Knife drummer Mana "China" Nishiura, who appeared on 2005's The Essential Sounds from the Far East, released by the American garage rock label Estrus. Tragedy struck that same year when the band's touring van careened off the highway while touring the U.S. Nishiura didn't survive the accident. After taking some time off to mourn and recover, the band returned with drummer Shinji Wada and toured the West Coast of America.