Two Crusty Years Of Nagoya's Punk And Destroy
Article written by April
Before the first Lazy Punks gig: Uechi (Tacos UK), Takacho (SDS), Takeshi (CFDL), and Uno (Result, Chaos CH)
Despite their ubiquity, gig series are a relatively unexamined idiosyncrasy of Japanese hardcore. Overseas, the best-known example is likely the ridiculously long-running "Shōdoku Gigs," which Gauze has been organizing for nearly 39 years. Often mistaken abroad as festivals, a gig series is a named and (usually) numbered set of shows themed and organized by either a band, venue, label, etc. For every city and every scene, there are defining series that stand apart. For Nagoya, Japan's fourth most populous and chronically overlooked city, the short-lived "Punk And Destroy" gigs are just that. Named after a Discharge compilation released by Japan's VAP Records, the series was organized jointly by Takeshi (CFDL, Atrocity Exhibition) and Takacho (SDS) in 1993. Despite only running for two years and 25 gigs, the series was an important component in the development of Japanese crust.
Through the '80s, out-of-town hardcore bands played a number of different punk gig series in Nagoya, including the "Punks Not Dead" gigs (organized by The Genbaku Onanies) and the "Punx! Battle Royal" gigs (organized by a Mr. Sue). Despite this, homegrown hardcore was in short supply for most of the decade. The blueprints of Nagoya's scene were set by punk bands like The Star Club, The Genbaku Onanies, Rose Jets, and Oxydoll. It wasn't until the mid '80s, with bands like Enola Gay, Head Locks, T.U.S.K., and The Gast (which at different times featured Shinobu of Mad Guillotines and Morishita of Overthrow Records on vocals), that a fledgling and largely-undocumented native hardcore scene was born.
By the late '80s, the region had a small but active hardcore scene with bands like Ashes, Atrocity Exhibition, Blaspheme, Colored Shout (pre-Out Of Touch), Crowd, D-Starve, Flash Backs, Flesh Eater, Naüsea (pre-Atrocity Exhibition), and SDS. With the assistance of Takeshi, Keiko (Blaspheme, Astray) attempted to organize a local-focused hardcore gig series named "Are You Punk Yet?" in 1988. Ultimately there was only one show, but the lineup foreshadowed the next decade of Nagoyan hardcore. Three of the bands that played (Atrocity Exhibition, SDS, and Naüsea) comprised the seminal "Nagoya City Hard Core" flexi (aka "Must Get To The Power," the first in a series of city-specific compilations released by MCR Company) a year later in May of 1989. The sound pioneered on the record heralded a newer, crustier wave of Japanese hardcore that took influence from, among others, Peaceville Records, Extreme Noise Terror, Antisect, and Doom.
By '92, Atrocity Exhibition had kinda sorta turned into CFDL (it's complicated), crust was gaining traction across Japan, and Takeshi was spending a year abroad in the UK. While there, he formed Bacteria, a studio-only discore band with members of Excrement Of War and future members of Doom. Compared to Japan, the UK scene was significantly more earnest in its political ideology. As Takeshi recalls, "I started to think about many issues more seriously, like racism, animal rights, women's rights, etc. I changed my lyrics, too." In late January, 1993, Takeshi returned to Japan with a more radicalized vision and got back to work:
"[CFDL] started playing as band again, and I was thinking of doing a series because the hardcore punk scene in our area was still not so active I felt, and I was not satisfied with it. I wanted to make something new in our area, so then I talked to my friend Takahashi (Takacho or Kenichi everybody called him, but I always called him Takahashi. And still I do so) from SDS, and we decided to organize shows once every couple months or so."
While he was living in the UK, news of a gig series in Osaka dedicated to "true underground punk" made its way to Nagoya and Takeshi heard tales of it from Takacho and others after returning. Based on word of mouth alone, the "Punk And Destroy" gigs were in part inspired by this series—Gloom's "Final Noise Attack" gigs. Paradoxically, according to Takeshi, members of Gloom later told him that the "Final Noise Attack" gigs were inspired by the "Punk And Destroy" gigs. Perhaps the members of Gloom merely meant they had taken inspiration from CFDL and SDS directly.
Although "Punk and Destroy" doesn't appear on the show flyer, the first gig was held on May 15th, 1993 with CFDL, SDS, Battle Of Disarm, and Anti Authorize. Senseless Apocalypse was also scheduled to play, but cancelled. Whereas early Japanese hardcore often used political aesthetics and declarations as decorations, the shows gravitated to more genuinely radical groups. As evidenced by the flyer ("No Rule, But No Violence"), the series was also an intentional rejection of the indiscriminate violence of Japan's '80s hardcore scene. According to Takeshi:
"I think there were no shows without violence in the '80s. One of my memories of punk shows in the '80s is like the smell of glue & blood! [laughter] I hate both violence & glue by the way! [...] Many people that came down to the shows were looking for reasons to fight (or for no reason, they just want to fight). Fucked up!"
All but one gig in the series were held at Imaike Huck Finn—Nagoya's long-running venue (since 1981) that's served as the region's central hardcore hub. The odd one out, Volume 16, was co-presented by "ABC Partisan Gigs" (a series organized by Mike Kobayashi of Tribal War Asia and Power Of Idea) at Kichijoji Crescendo in Tokyo. Perhaps most impressively, the series accomplished something Nagoya's Visitors Bureau struggles with: it made people visit Nagoya. Contingencies from other regions (in particular Kansai) began regularly making the journey to Nagoya for the gigs. According to Takeshi, "'Final Noise Attack' punks from Osaka started to come down to 'Punk and Destroy' gigs. I can say, if they were not coming down here, 'Punk and Destroy' would've looked smaller."
As the shows grew in popularity, Takeshi and Takacho felt increasingly disconnected from their creation. CFDL or SDS were frequently absent from the lineups, and the shows began to feel less personal. The two decided to end the series, with a final gig held on March 25, 1995 with CFDL, Crocodileskink, Denial, and Order. The pair immediately bounced back a month later however, with a new, smaller and more personal series—Lazy Punks Presents. The name was likely taken from Lazy Records, a record store that Takeshi spent a year working and daydrinking at (simultaneously). The series often featured unusually eclectic lineups, with CFDL, SDS, Tacos UK (a Chaos UK "cosplay" band featuring Atsuo and Takeshi of Boris), and Jhonio 47 (Gloom side project) playing the first gig.
Since then, the "Punk And Destroy" name has been resurrected occasionally, including for a two day fest in 2002 and a one day fest held in Tsurumai in 2009 (although Takeshi doesn't consider this a canonical entry in the series). Decades after the series first ended, the name persists because of its ongoing legacy. For a brief moment, it turned an under-traveled city into a crust crossroads that steered Japanese hardcore to a crustier future.
Complete Gigography:
#1 05/15/93 CFDL / SDS / Battle Of Disarm / Anti Authorize / Senseless Apocalypse (Cancelled)
#2 07/11/93 SDS / CFDL / Disgrace / Iconoclast
#3 08/22/93 SDS / CFDL / Hakuchi / Rustic Top Dogs
#4 09/25/93 Abraham Cross / CFDL / Defiance / Iconoclast / Mindsuck
#5 10/24/93 CFDL / SDS / Life / Abraham Cross
#6 11/21/93 CFDL / SDS / Liberate / Unwise
#7 12/12/93 CFDL / TDF / Out Of Touch / Abraham Cross
#8 12/26/93 Extinct Government / Assfort / Demolition / SDS
#9 01/16/94 SDS / CFDL / Disclose / Ace Of Shit
#10 02/27/94 CFDL / Flesh Eater / Defiance / Iconoclast
#11 03/20/94 SDS / Sink / Out Of Touch / Hot Scut
#12 04/24/94 SDS / CFDL / Idora / Sweats
#13 05/29/94 SDS / CFDL / Abraham Cross / Collapse Society
#14 06/11/94 SDS / Mad Ego / Addiction / Chaos CH
#15 06/26/94 CFDL / Demolition / Senseless Apocalypse / Balzac
#16 07/02/94 CFDL / Out Of Touch / Life / Battle Of Disarm / Crocodileskink / Divided We Fall / Power Of Idea
#17 08/03/94 SDS / CFDL / Out Of Touch / Mad Ego / Head Locks
#18 08/28/94 Mad Ego (Maybe Cancelled) / SDS / CFDL / Hazard / Extinct Government
#19 09/25/94 CFDL / Defiance / Iconoclast / Mindsuck
#20 10/30/94 Flesh Eater / Mad Ego / Rose Rose
#21 11/20/94 CFDL / Nukey Pikes / Out Of Touch / Resistal Exclaim
#22 12/11/94 SDS / Blind Justice (aka Envy) / Demolition / Smash Your Face
#23 12/24/94 Out Of Touch / Power Of Idea / Slight Slappers / Toxic Noise
#24 01/22/95 SDS / An Apology Nature Arise / Balzac / Humpty Dumpty
#25 03/25/95 CFDL / Crocodileskink / Denial / Order
7/20/02 CFDL / Demolition / Reality Crisis / Disgust / Order / Mental Disease / Flash Gordon
7/21/02 Delta / Unholy Grave / Exterminate / Rotary Beginners / Tomorrow / Out Of Touch / Life / Age / Soothe / SDS
Thanks to Takeshi (CFDL), Takacho (SDS), Keiko (Astray), Datsu (Iconoclast), Abe (Life), Morishita (Overthrow Records), and Tom (General Speech).
Videos shared with permission from the bands.
Images shared with permission from POTHEAD S.O.U. (Vol. 1, 13, 14, Lazy Punks flyers), Hiroshi Ohtsu (Vol. 2, 3, 5, 7-10 flyers), Nitta (MCR and 2002 flyers), and Takeshi (everything else).
