Redrum

Japanese indie rock band Redrum were established with the proclaimed goal to be Japan's answer to Portishead and Tricky, although they drifted closer to Placebo and Modest Mouse sonically, and also started to throw in a bit of punk. The group's name -- "murder" spelled backwards -- comes from the Stephen King novel The Shining, and their lyrics are replete with references to the movies of David Cronenberg and David Lynch. Redrum were founded in 1998 by Kazihara Kouji (drums), Takeuchi Tsuyoshi (guitar), and Kitayama Yumi (vocals), all of them in their early twenties. Their first bassist, Jyunji, was kicked out fast because of his lack of responsibility, and his replacement was Hiroshi Soto, who managed to blend in despite being a 30-year-old "salaryman." Redrum got their start very soon after the bandmembers met Sugizo of Luna Sea at a Massive Attack concert and gave him their demo tape, which impressed him enough to have them as the first band on his new label, Embryo Records. Their eponymous maxi-single was out in 1999, and the debut album Second Circle arrived in 2000. By 2001, when they switched to Night People, Redrum were already an established enough act to play not just in Japan but abroad as well, with their Hong Kong show being documented on the 2004 DVD Live in Hong Kong 2001.09.20 @ Queen Elizabeth Stadium. They also continued to record albums and EPs steadily up to 2004, when they released Shinbigan to Paradox, but also lost Soto, who was replaced by Hirabayashi Naoki and then Honda Yuuya. The group switched to singles, starting with Touen No Chikai (2004) and following it with three more in 2005 and another two in 2006, but then split for a year. In 2007, Redrum reunited with Soto back on board and released the single Tokyo and the best-of Cinematic Sound Foundation before embarking on a set of dates dubbed Last Tour -- Tomorrow Never Comes.