SEVENTEEN AGAiN | en

1. SEVENTEEN AGAiN are a punk/indie band from Tokyo, Japan. From 2008, the band consisted of 藪雄太 (Yuta Yabu) a.k.a. Yabuson (ヤブソン) (vocals/guitar), Ushi (牛) (guitar), Osawa Hiroki (大澤ヒロキ) a.k.a. Osawa17 (bass; played guitar before Ushi joined), and ∴560∵ (drums). SEVENTEEN AGAiN released the albums 『Never Wanna Be Seventeen Again』 (2009) and 『FUCK FOREVER』 (2012) on Osawa's I Hate Smoke Records--a haven for up-and-coming bands within the genre and subgenres of punk--as well as some tapes on the subsidiary label I Hate Smoke Tapes, run by Yabuson. Up until 『FUCK FOREVER』, the band exhibited a sound that blended fast, aggressive and catchy punk melded with characteristics of alternative/indie rock, while becoming notorious for their manic live performances.

∴560∵ departed SEVENTEEN AGAiN in 2013; he remains the bass player for popular electronic pop rock band Wienners, whose members include longtime friends of SEVENTEEN AGAiN since high school. ∴560∵ was replaced by Kazu Suzuki (鈴木カズ) from the I Hate Smoke act MY SHOES MY CAP. Through their association with 安孫子真哉 (Abiko Shinya)--former bass player for legendary punk bands GOING STEADY and 銀杏BOYZ, whom they met at a farewell party for Bob Vielma of American indie rock band Shinobu--SEVENTEEN AGAiN signed to Abiko's newly established label KiliKiliVilla and released their third album 『少数の脅威』 (2015). In contrast to their previous albums, 『少数の脅威』 demonstrated newfound influences from indie/jangle pop bands like Literature (who they supported on the band's Japanese tour) and Real Estate, and featured cleaner production and lighter songs in contrast to the band's previous material.

On July 29, 2016, SEVENTEEN AGAiN performed for the last time with Ushi and Osawa, though it was assured that the band would continue without them. Ushi remains active on the punk scene with his band NUMBER TWO and label DEMOS GRIT, while Osawa continues to play in THE SENSATIONS and GIRLFRIEND while running I Hate Smoke Records. On August 3, mere days after their final show as a four-piece, Yabuson and Suzuki began performing as a two-piece for SEVENTEEN AGAiN's live appearances which continued tirelessly over the next months, even extending over a 4-date September tour. While the director of their label Abiko Shinya was in talks to join SEVENTEEN AGAiN as their new bass player, Yabuson was also considering ろっきー (Rocky)--formerly of the band フジロッ久(仮) (Fujirokkyu Kari)--for the same role. Rocky was announced as SEVENTEEN AGAIN's new bassist on 1 January 2017, and the band subsequently made their debut as a three-piece at 新代田FEVER on 8 January for the 「KiliKiliVilla presents 不安と遊撃 vol.5」 show. The new lineup quickly recorded the mini-album 『スズキ』, set for release on 12 July 2017.

2. SEVENTEEN AGAIN are fucking unreal. The band started in Kalamazoo during the summer of 2012 with the initial intention of playing with Brok (who is now in Shoto, check their live set here) who was the one who originally came up with the name SEVENTEEN AGAIN...which was meant to make searching for the band a frustrating experience thanks to the likes of Zach Efron and Matthew Perry. If you like the crushing beauty of bands such as Back When, Ampere, Loma Prieta, Dolcim, Rats Into Robots and This Ship Will Sink you are going to absolutely love this band. .