Michiro Endo (The Stalin) RIP

[Jared]

Just found out Michiro Endo, lead singer of The Stalin died. R.I.P. to a total legend. The Stalin are a top ten punk band for me. I feel a rewatch of Burst City coming on.

Michiro Endo died in a Tokyo hospital while battling pancreatic cancer on April 25, 2019, aged 68. A representative announced his death on May 1 and that he had previously undergone surgery for the cancer in October 2018. -- Wikipedia

[vedicardi]

love that crazy bastard.  <3

[damski]

Never tire of this footage. The audience were loving it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Itx1tpKkTFs

Also, this is very cool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpZ026-kSnM

[K2]

My favorite Japanese band, by a long shot. They remind me quite a bit of Pankrti (though they certainly stand on their own) and remind me a lot more of Yugoslavian punk than they do anything else I've ever heard from Japan, though if there is anything else from there like them, I'd be interested in hearing it.

[Jared]

The thing that I love about them is how much they seem to hit all the right spots, diverse while always sounding like The Stalin and never like they didn't know what they were going for. They've got fast hardcore songs, weird angular almost post-punkish / no wavish stuff, mid-paced rockers, and sludgey Flipper-esque tracks. I feel like there are bands from that scene who hit a couple of those touchstones, but never pulled off quite as many.

For instance, the Tokyo Rockers bands like Friction and Mirrors seem to tow the line between tough punk rock and more art-damaged, but are definitely not hardcore bands. Then there are hardcore bands who would release a flexi that had maybe two-three straight-forward hardcore songs and a slower Flipper / No Trend-type track. Tam's ADK label roster is really the closest, as far as I've come across, and a lot of that stuff seems to exist in its own shit-fi universe (Kikeiji, Aburadako, Masturbation).

[nick_]

My favorite Japanese band, by a long shot. They remind me quite a bit of Pankrti (though they certainly stand on their own) and remind me a lot more of Yugoslavian punk than they do anything else I've ever heard from Japan, though if there is anything else from there like them, I'd be interested in hearing it.

i always thought the dezerter -> stalin connection was really cool and unique (though it was later on in the late 80s/early 90s, i think).

kevin, you might dig tsunematsu masatoshi's early stuff if you haven't jumped into it before, i'd def put it on a playlist with pankrti - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn4P-VxWrS4

[vedicardi]

The thing that I love about them is how much they seem to hit all the right spots, diverse while always sounding like The Stalin and never like they didn't know what they were going for. They've got fast hardcore songs, weird angular almost post-punkish / no wavish stuff, mid-paced rockers, and sludgey Flipper-esque tracks. I feel like there are bands from that scene who hit a couple of those touchstones, but never pulled off quite as many.

For instance, the Tokyo Rockers bands like Friction and Mirrors seem to tow the line between tough punk rock and more art-damaged, but are definitely not hardcore bands. Then there are hardcore bands who would release a flexi that had maybe two-three straight-forward hardcore songs and a slower Flipper / No Trend-type track. Tam's ADK label roster is really the closest, as far as I've come across, and a lot of that stuff seems to exist in its own shit-fi universe (Kikeiji, Aburadako, Masturbation).

friction and mirrors (along with most first wave punk bands) broke up or lost key members before they had a chance.  I agree that ADK records bands do the closest things, considering Tam was in the stalin for a significant amount of time as well.