Several big-name acts from Japan crossed over into the Occident this year to play Giffoni's fourth annual noise gala No Fun Fest in Brooklyn. Merzbow and Keiji Haino would be making the trip along with two relatively lesser-heard acts, Pain Jerk and Incapacitants. However, the two middle-aged men in Incapacitants are by day your average pair of salary men selling mutual funds, and because the Japanese fiscal year officially terminates near No Fun Fest's usual time around the Ides of March, the fest was pushed to May solely to accommodate these legendary Japanoise stalwarts. Giffoni must've thought the move was worth it, though, and by the end of their performance, he would have everyone in the audience violently nodding their heads in bloody agreement. Live at the No Fun Fest 2007 documents this performance, as well as Pain Jerk's.
Pain Jerk (Kohei Gomi) closed off the first of four nights of the fest. A monolithic mane of long dark curls obscured Gomi's face, evoking the hair-n-fuzz psych-noise-rock of fellow nippons Acid Mothers Temple. A black t-shirt bore a neon green president with glowing orange eyes, the words "Bush Hates Me" emblazoned across the top. Intense, sleazy, and raw, Pain Jerk's analog squall is top-shelf. He plays his unidentifiable hunk of metal (all these Japanese noise acts seem to have one) like a guitar, one foot up on the tab brandishing a brand new pair of hi-top vans, whipping his hair wildly. According to the liner notes, Gomi considers himself somewhat of an enigma, saying Pain Jerk is "very underground, like a cult." Although his approach isn't quite like that of a Jim Jones, his own brand of power electronics voodoo has been known to summon its own evil djinns.
Meanwhile, Incapacitants headlined Friday night's bill. Striding on stage with short haircuts and the regular-guy t-shirt and khakis/jeans look, they provided a stark visual contrast to the heavy metal stylings of Pain Jerk. With a few minor motions, their instruments began to whirl up, and within a few short seconds the room was transformed into an electricity-shocked mass hallucination of thrashing oscillators and all-around electromagnetic madness. (I can't help but imagine what their coworkers at the bank might think of this.) Their "as loud as possible" style of noise is straight and visceral, foregoing any attempts at pretentious experimentation. Even Toshiji seems to be incapacitated by his own music, rolling his eyes deep into the top of his head and seizing, looking like he is in the process of being tazed, electrocuted, or bombarded with rubber bullets.
On stage, the duo are extremely physical. Kosaki brandishes two electrodes (dismembered guitar pickups?) from which drip two neon orange cords. He appears to collect energy and noise from the two electrodes, gradually building up and lifting the objects over his head, before whipping them down in a seemingly sadistic sound-flagellation of the audience. It is hard to determine who is in control: the performers or the machines. Mikawa yelps and squeals in tortured ecstasy, each turning of the knob matched with a pained convulsion. Finally, at the climax, Kosakai throws the electrodes to the ground of the stage and dives backward into the crowd. A cathartic end to a blistering set.
Live at the No Fun Fest 2007 is impressively mastered; both sets sound crisp and as if they could've been recorded in the studio. Of course, they fall short of conveying the true intensity of the performances, but they serve as a good reminder to those of us who were there and a close audio approximation for those who missed it.
More about: Pain Jerk / Incapacitants
