Guniw Tools
| Guniw Tools | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Hokkaidō, Japan |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1989–2000, 2014-present |
| Labels | Victor Entertainment |
| Associated acts | |
| Website | Full/Guniw Tools Official Site |
| Past members | Full Jake Asaki |
Guniw Tools (グニュウ・ツール Gunyuu Tuuru) were a Japanese visual kei rock band. The band's theme was "Integrated Art Direction featuring visual images that come forth from sound." The band's name "Guniw Tools" was created from the Japanese phrase for "flimsy tool".
In 1989, Tomo Furukawa created an audio-visual performance project called Guniw which incorporated artwork and music. The project did not evolve into a band until 1992 when Masatomo Kawase joined the project under the alias JAKE as guitarist and main composer, and the band changed its name to Guniw Tools. The band's third member, Asaki Yamahana, was initially only involved as a live support member but eventually became a full-fledged band member after gaining popularity with the fans. Having amassed a significant following by 1996, Guniw Tools was signed to Victor Entertainment, a major record company, and quickly released their first album Niwlun on Victor's Invitation label.
A home video was released to accompany Niwlun, featuring music videos for each song on the album primarily directed by Furukawa and shot and produced by the band themselves. These "DIY" videos would become a signature of the band, and almost all releases by the band (albums and singles alike) had a corresponding VHS release with videos for each song.
1997 saw the release of their second album Other Goose, followed by the mini-album Sparky. Though these albums proved to be successful (and would in fact be the highest charting albums of the band's career), JAKE was not satisfied with the direction the band and chose to leave the project, leaving the band without their main composer.
With JAKE gone, the band continued as a duo and Asaki took over the duties as the band's main composer which led to a noticeable shift in style. This new style emerged on the band's first single following JAKE's departure, DADA. While the sound of the JAKE years had been influenced by folk rock, jazz, and shoegaze, this new single displayed hard electronic and industrial influences. This electro-industrial style was further expanded upon on the band's 1998 LP, Dazzle, and their 1999 LP, Fickle Boon.
In recent years, these two albums have come under scrutiny after reaching a Western audience thanks to the internet. It has been found that multiple songs seem to take elements from songs by the likes of Curve, The Stone Roses, Duran Duran, PJ Harvey, and Yo La Tengo, though the liner notes list only Asaki as songwriter. These allegations have never been addressed by the band.
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