THE SWANKYS - “THIS IS MY LIFESTYLE!” 7"

SORRY STATE:

The Crowmaniax label gives us another lovingly executed, detail-oriented reissue of a Japanese hardcore classic, and this time it’s the Swankys’ first EP from 1985. In case you aren’t familiar with the history (all the info is coming from the recently released Flex Japanese discography book BTW), Swankys started in 1982, then changed their name to Gai in 1983, releasing (alongside Confuse, with whom they’re almost always mentioned) some of the most brutal, wild, and exciting noise-punk ever created. Then in 1985 they changed their name back to the Swankys and shifted their style somewhat, incorporating the simple, sing-song-y melodies of bands like the Toy Dolls, the Adicts, and Asta Kask. This Is My Lifestyle finds the band right on the cusp of that second transition. They recorded two of the tracks while they still called the band Gai (they also appeared on Gai's Damnation cassette), one is a re-recording of an older Gai song, and only the title track is a new composition. Unsurprisingly this is the one that anticipates where the Swankys would go on future releases. So many bands have ripped off the Swankys’ formula that it's hard to hear them for how revolutionary their sound was, but there’s no denying this is a great EP. While the guitars aren’t as ludicrously abstract as, say, Confuse’s Indignation, no noise punker will be disappointed with this EP. Perhaps my favorite aspect of This Is My Lifestyle, though, is the vocals. The vocalist merges the growling Japanese vocal style I associate with GISM and Execute with a Johnny Rotten-esque sneer. The single greatest moment on this record is on “Fundamental,” when one of those guttural screams somehow disintegrates into a laugh. What a perfect summation of what the Swankys were all about.