 We
sure these guys ain't from Detroit? I mean, OK, Gedo's debut was
recorded live during one of their numerous festival shows, and
everything happens in Japanese. But the amped up proto punk, meathead
anthems, and undiluted WATTAGE come off like Tokyo's the new Burning
Motor City.
Fitting, if nothing else. Gedo were part of the festival circuit in
late 60s/early 70s Japan, playing big, loud, gloriously dumb sets of
Grand Funk-esque proto metal to whatever miscreants felt like showing
up (there was also a healthy biker contingent, as shown by the final
few seconds of motorcycle noise that closes the album.) While not as
political as the MC5, nor as reviled and obsessed with filth as The
Stooges, it's a bit of a no brainer to state that seeing these bands
together on a bill in the early 70s would leave chemicals consumed and
eardrums blown.
The album kicks off with the band's theme, "香り"
("Flavor.") Why it's
called "flavor" is anyone's guess, since it's little more than the
band name repeated like some kind of stuttering challenge ("Gedo," by
the way, is a word that means something between "sinner" and "screw
up.") It's
short but sweet, quickly staking the band's territory as the next
track, "逃げるな" ("Running Away,") treads similar ground as the MC5's "I Want You Right Now," with less menace and more release.
The thing that's really startling about Gedo is how clearly the sheer
hedonism comes through on an album with no band photos, no credits,
even no song titles (at least on the vinyl: the CD, naturally, has more
expected information.) It's partly the stripped down power trio format,
as it leaves little room for mystery. But there's more, a kind of
tangible sleaze that sends a loud and clear signal that Gedo weren't
fooling around with their bad boy image. At the tail end of
"ロックンロールバカ" ("Rock 'n' Roll Idiot,") the band goes into a kind of call
and response shtick, with vocalist/guitarist Hideto Kano cooing
"kimochi?" ("having fun?") at the audience as if he were teasing his
lover mid-coitus.
Even the wildest Japanese bands from this period had a kind of academic
seriousness, even as they produced utterly out there albums (well,
OK, Speed Glue and Shinki
were no one's idea of brainy, but you get the point.) Gedo were, like
SG & S, just out for a good time, and weren't afraid of dumping
mysticism in favor of good old fashioned butt shaking when the time
came. And the time came indeed for this live document, one that holds
its own alongside Grand Funk's mighty "Live Album," Ranmadou's
"Summer 1972" (we'll get to that one soon,) and the MC5s unimpeachable
"Kick Out The Jams." Crank the bass and pass the brew, it's time to
kill brain cells.
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