Friction (band)

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This article is about the Japanese rock band. For the resistive force, see Friction.

Friction (フリクション furikushon) is a Japanese underground rock band formed in 1978.

[edit] History

Friction was formed by bassist and vocalist Reck in Tokyo, Japan in March 1978 after he returned from New York, where he played with Teenage Jesus & the Jerks and James Chance & The Contortions. The other founding members were drummer and occasional saxophone player Chiko Hige, who also played with The Contortions, and guitarist Lapis.

Lapis left the band in December 1979 and was succeeded by Tsunematsu Masatoshi, who prior to joining the band had studied art at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts & Music. This three-man lineup of Reck, Chiko Hige and Tsunematsu Masatoshi is often thought to be their 'classic' line-up.

Friction released their first album, Atsureki (軋轢, meaning 'friction' in Japanese) in 1980, produced by Ryuichi Sakamoto. (This album is often wrongly thought to be called Friction.)

Tsunematsu left the band in December 1980, and from then on Friction has been through numerous personnel changes, all revolving around frontman Reck. Chiko Hige remained with the band until 1987, and other members include Mirrors frontman and Stalin member Higo Hiroshi and former guitarist Lapis, who returned in 1989.

On their second album, Skin Deep, released in 1982, Friction is the trio of Reck, guitarist Emiko Mogi and percussionist Sher-Z Haruna, and Chiko Hige plays drums on one song.

Friction's third studio album, Replicant Walk, was released in June 1988. This time Friction is Reck, drummer Sato Minoru, keyboardist Serigano and guitarist Higo Hiroshi. John Zorn also plays saxophone on the album, and it was released in the United States in 1994 on Enemy Records.

In December 1989 Friction released a live video, Dumb Numb Video, directed by Sogo Ishii.

In 1995 Friction, now the trio of Reck, Sato Minoru and guitarist Imai Akinobu, released their fourth studio album, Zone Tripper. In 1999, John Zorn's record label Tzadik released Zone Tripper in the US, with some tracks replaced by remixes that previously appeared on the band's 1996 remix album Remixxx+One.

Friction has not been active since 1997. Reck currently plays in Head Rush with Keiji Haino.