The Students: The Students

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2018/2/1

Based around guitarist/singer Akiko Yoshida, bassist Atsushi Oba and with drummer Tetsurou Suzuki joining them as a live member, Japanese indie/punk/new wave trio The Students may or may not have been named after a fictional band hinted at but never seen in the video for Supercar's "Lucky". They drew on a mixture of influences from Japan (Tama, Spitz, Number Girl) and overseas (Led Zeppelin, REM, Joni Mitchell, Prince) -- none of which were ever more than faintly detectable in their music. Instead, they used catchy pop hooks and lo-fi art-punk aesthetics to draw you into a fragile, awkward, stumbling, chaotic and beautiful universe entirely of their own.

This album is a collection of demos from between 2002-2008 that marks the band's sole recorded output. It was compiled by Tokyo-based music journalist and Call And Response Records owner Ian F. Martin, for whom The Students were an invaluable gateway into the Tokyo music scene, and who wrote about his experiences watching them in his love letter to Japanese indie music, "Quit Your Band! - Musical Notes from the Japanese Underground".

All songs by The Students
Artwork by Akiko Yoshida