Since disbanding in 2019, Kinoko Teikoku have done a tremendous job of not giving fans any shred of hope about any further activities. Frontwoman Chiaki Satō has carved out a solo career that occasionally contains echoes of the visceral emo-gaze that made her old band so influential and beloved, but largely hews to pretty straight J-pop. guitarist A-Chan released a single song – “Colors” – as Sekaino Archan in 2021 and apparently has a new band in My Temples, though they’ve not officially released music yet; that’s also her on guitar and in this brand-new video from J-Rockers My Little Devil. I’m pleased to see her pedalboard remains the same as it was at the end of Kinoko Teikoku; her tone is amazing. Drummer Nishimura Kon now pounds skins in Lilubay, and bassist Taniguchi Shigeaki presumably continues to tend to his family’s temple as that was the impetus for their dissolving in the first place.

All of which is to say that any kind of news around the band is surprising and welcome, but also not to get too worked up over. In this case, the 10th anniversary of their major label debut album, 猫とアレルギー (Cats and Allergies), which came out in November 2015. To mark this, their three final albums, released on Universal Music Japan, are getting their first-ever vinyl pressings – that’d be 猫とアレルギー, 2016’s 愛のゆくえ (Where Love Goes), and 2018’s タイム・ラプス (Time Lapse). These are due out tomorrow, April 29, and it looks like they will be distributed worldwide, though the timing may not be quite so immediate.

I don’t think any of their fans would hold these records as superior to their indie releases – 2012’s 渦になる and 2013’s Eureka are arguably the most influential Japanese shoegeaze releases of the past 20 years – but to me, they’re not nearly as soft or inessential as they’re often dismissed as. They’re certainly less noisy, but there’s still plenty of searing moments and the songs, melodies, and performances are still plenty worthy. In other words, I like them a lot even though I won’t be buying these on wax – the CD imports from Japan already cost me plenty!

「愛のゆくえ」is the title track from the middle of the above records, and certainly contains some of the aforementioned searing moments – A-Chan’s guitar work is just awesome.

Want to see some headless Japanese rando do a guitar cover of it? How about two? I know I do. Here they are!