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Boris

Attention Please

Iconoclast Japanese trio Boris are widely known for their ability to breach styles and stretch sonic boundaries of all that is heavy, psychedelic, droning and downright cathartic. But, Attention Please is more like a complete redefining of their potential in several ways.
First and foremost, it is the first album on which all vocals are sung by lead guitarist, Wata. While she has previously sung on a couple of songs for singles and her own solo recordings, the entire 10-song album features her intimate, multifaceted vocal style.
Secondly, the songs on Attention Please have a sultry, intoxicating catchiness to them. It's melodic without sounding pop. It's psychedelic without sounding dated. It's heavy without relying on barre chord riffs. The album opening title track begins with a pulsing kick drum as hushed, seething guitar and bass slither across the beat. Wata's cooing vocals drop in like a whispered warning of treachery to come in the threadbare musical landscape. "Hope" bursts forth like Sonic Youth on a detuned pop jangle, while "Les Paul Custom '86" sounds like a beautifully mutated hybrid of Serge Gainsbourg's playful "Ford Mustang" and the brooding intensity of The XX. Throughout, Attention Please sounds vaguely akin to Technical Ecstacy-era Black Sabbath covering Tangerine Dream.
Attention Please came to be following Boris touring the world in 2008 in support of their last album, Smile. The trio set about recording new material and a new album was completed, then abandoned. The band sought to challenge themselves further, and the end results are two new albums of dramatic growth and the most powerful extension to Boris' unparalleled creativity, Attention Please and the all new Heavy Rocks - 2011 (not to be mistaken for their earlier release, Heavy Rocks 2002).
Boris formed in the early 90s as a four piece just-for-fun endeavour with the sonic template of influences like Melvins and Earth. By the time of its 1996 debut as a trio Absolutego (later released in the US via Southern Lord in 2000), Boris had already hit its stride in creating unique ground-rattling heavy, melodic music. The group, bassist/vocalist Takeshi, guitarist/vocalist Wata and drummer/vocalist Atsuo went on to release nearly 20 studio albums, as well as numerous collaborative albums - including projects with Merzbow, Sunn0))), Ian Astbury and Michio Kurihara of Ghost (who also currently tours with the band as second guitarist) - EPs and singles on various labels throughout the world.