Beat Crusaders
| Beat Crusaders | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | BECR |
| Origin | Japan |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1997–2010 |
| Labels |
|
| Associated acts | Anita Chili Peppers |
| Website | Official website |
| Members | Tōru Hidaka Masahiko Kubota Tarō Katō Hirofumi Yamashita Keita Tanabe |
| Past members | Mitsutaka Umuyashiki Takayuki Araki Hiroyuki Tai |
Beat Crusaders (ビート・クルセイダース Bīto Kuruseidāsu?, typeset as BEAT CRUSADERS) were a Japanese rock band active from 1997 to 2010. During all promotional appearances, their faces are masked by drawings resembling themselves as printed by a dot-matrix printer.
Beat Crusaders, commonly abbreviated BECR, was instigated at the end of 1997 by Tōru Hidaka as an experimental U.S. Lo-Fi Indie Rock unit. The rest of the band later joined as a result of continual experimental gigs performed around the Shimokitazawa area of Tokyo. Their creative use of analog synthesizers and the old Casiotone, incorporated with influences of such bands as Weezer and The Rentals, and at times the dynamism of Snuffesque rock, had transformed them into a powerfully melodic guitar band. By the end of 1998, Beat Crusaders had already started creating songs which emphasized they were a crazy and fun live act that was not to be missed. The momentum carried on with a single "E.C.D.T." released in June of the following year which entered independent charts of CD retail shops all across Japan. A month later their first mini-album, Howling Symphony of... was released; this entered the charts again with various music magazines giving the big thumbs up. Reflecting their chart action and praise from magazines, numerous live offers followed from notable bands in the Japanese alternative/independent scene, from guitar pop and new wave of new wave, to pop punk and ska bands. They continued to be busy, with their second single "Firestarter" released in early 2000 and later the full-length "All You Can Eat". They also were involved in four compilations, their own 'cover' EPs including a split entitled WXY with fellow Japanese punk band Captain Hedgehog.
In August 2003, three of the four original members of Beat Crusaders left the band, to eventually go on to form a new band Anita Chili Peppers. This left behind only Tōru Hidaka who later recruited four new members, which make up the Beat Crusaders today. It is not known why the past members left. However, it doesn't seem like they left on bad terms, considering Hidaka included the masks of his former bandmates and his actions (he was crying) in the PV, "Sensation".
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Wikipedia