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Pain Jerk/Incapacitants, "Live At The No Fun Fest 2007"
Most people when asked about the distinctly Japanese dialect of what the world knows as noise can easily mention Merzbow. Some of the more well versed can even come up with Masonna. Pain Jerk and the Incapacitants, however, are often reserved for those a bit more "in the know." Both have had long, prolific careers and this disc captures both of their first, and only performances thus far in the US. The sound is every bit as brutal and engrossing on here as it is on either of their multitude of studio works.
I must admit to feeling more than just a bit of frustration from this disc. Back in May, I was all set to see the Incapacitants during their first every US show. However, due to an awful (now ex-) girlfriend who was an even worse driver, I missed the show because of an accident and instead had to spend the night in fascinating Poughkeepsie, New York. Not only was that incident annoying enough, but now I look through the photographs in the accompanying booklet and thing "wow, if it wasn't for her, I could perhaps see my ugly mug somewhere in one of these photos!" But, I digress.
Kohei Gomi, a.k.a. Pain Jerk contributes the first performance in "Hello America (Excerpt)," which is 33 minutes of pure phased destruction. Crushing low-end pulses, shrill shards of processed white noise, and everything in between. No moments of quiet introspection or any relent at all to the pummeling. I must admit to finding it a bit disappointing overall when compared to Pain Jerk's studio work. In that context, he has a very unique sound based on very tight, well-controlled loops and almost rhythmic processing; which is something that set Gomi apart from his contemporaries. It might just be a factor of the live versus studio setting, because that element makes only sparse appearances throughout the performance. It is by no means a bad set, but it doesn't stand apart from other noise artists as much as it should.
While looking at the photos Pain Jerk can be seen as the long haired, metal looking guy he is, the Incapacitants provide a stark visual contrast. The band, consisting of Tosiji Mikawa (also of Hijokaidan) and Fumio Kosakai (of C.C.C.C.) are both short haired Japanese salarymen. Mikawa is a bank employee, and Kosakai works in a government office. Hence, their noise work is a pure hobby. Until a DVD (which I hope is forthcoming) is released, take it on my word from previous performances I have seen via video: these two always look like they're having the time of their lives during performances. Hopping around, fists pumping, wrestling with each other and just generally spazzing out is how they roll: Mikawa has said he started the Incapacitants as a way to explore pure noise without any other pretense or framework, and the two seem to be possessed by the spirit of harsh electronics whenever they're on stage.
Their performance, "The Crowd Inched Closer & Closer," begins with the recorded yells from the audience, yelling various album titles the group has released in the ultimate perversion of "the request" at rock shows before a sputtering noise comes in accompanied by one of the two's screams. Then, without a pause, the roar begins. Hypnotic washes of white noise, ray gun sine waves pulsate, and the screams of two men enjoying the moment in the most enthusiastic way possible.
Kudos to everyone involved with recording and mastering this beast, because even through all the expected difficulty in making a noise recording "clean," especially in a live setting, the individual elements come through nicely and various complexities that could be otherwise overlooked are noteworthy.
This is truly the spirit of noise: no macho posturing, no pseudo-intellectualism, no "rocking out," no pretense. Just pure, unadulterated electronic distortion of the highest quality done by two of the masters who have ever turned the knob on a distortion pedal that is fun, terrifying, hypnotic and fascinating all at the same time.
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