A recent musical discovery has left my ears blessed with impressive rock sounds and my mind spinning around catchy melodies.

The band, hare-brained unity caught my attention with an advertisement in ROCKIN’ON JAPAN Magazine. In the ad for their new album, they looked pretty cool so I subsequently looked into them. After checking out their website and getting my hands on some of their music, I realized that my attention had been well-placed and I was simply impressed.

Ad taken from ROCKIN’ON JAPAN

hare-brained unity initially got together in 1999 but it was in this past year, 2006, that they really gained a lot of recognition. In order to get from ‘point A’ (1999) to ‘point B’ (06/07) they had to come a long way, literally. Originally from Nagasaki, the 4 members of hare-brained unity made the move halfway across Japan to Tokyo to professionally pursue music. They headed to the Shimokitazawa (下北沢) district and broke into the club scene there. Shimokita is the place to go for indie bands looking to be ‘discovered’. Read more of their history and bio in their SparkPlugged Profile…

Musically, it’s best to describe hare-brained unity’s style by the instrument. As far as the guitar goes, Yoshida Daisuke makes ample use of high-pitched (B, E strings) and ultra-melodic riffs. Bassist Wada Taiju supplies a constistent flow of distictive driving basslines that further characterize each song. Drummer Otsuba Tetsu plays around by often riding the cymbals and more as well as throwing in syncopation and other rhythmic techniques. Lead singer Nunotani Yoshitaka’s voice isn’t particularly unique but the vocal melodies which he sings compensate and are often very memorable. Each of the musicians that combine to form hare-brained unity offer something different yet equally substantial. There seems to be no one dominant element or instrument in many of their songs. (The melodic guitar initially stood out as dominant but upon hearing more of the band’s material I realized how balanced their work is.)

hare-brained unity’s music is instantly pleasing to the ear and with each track, the listener further familarizes themselves with the band’s sound and style. In other words, I haven’t known of hare-brained unity for very long, but I already feel like I’ve been listening to their music for years.

Check out hare-brained unity’s official site