Abunai!
Encyclopedia
Abunai! was a psychedelic rock
/space rock
/folk rock
band from Boston, Massachusetts, USA primarily active from 1996 to 2001 on the Australian Camera Obscura
record label.
Due to musical and writing connections to the Ptolemaic Terrascope
the band was asked to play the first Terrastock
festival in Providence
, Rhode Island
in 1997, where they also sold copies of a self-released and titled cassette taken from their initial sessions. Tony Dale, who had founded the Camera Obscura
label the previous year, was in attendance for their set and offered to release the group's material. Abunai! remained with the label for its subsequent three albums and two EPs, though the band also released songs on a variety of compilations elsewhere.
The band's debut release, Universal Mind Decoder, appeared later in 1997; the title was a reference to a working title for the Byrds
song "Change is Now" from The Notorious Byrd Brothers
.
Abunai!'s second release, 1999's The Mystic River Sound, was created and presented as a supposed compilation album covering "the seedy, sour suburbs north of Boston," referencing both numerous album compilations of small psychedelic and rock scenes as well as the Turtles
album The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands. All songs on the album were written and performed by the group, with false group names acting as musical or local in-jokes and references.
The group's final full length release, 2000's Round Wound, was conceived and presented in the form of a classic Dean Markley Strings
package, with the album title written in the company's logo font and the artwork and overall layout similarly parodying the look. Underground cult New England musician Bobb Trimble
appeared on the song "Buzz Bombb." Released simultaneously with Round Wound was Deep Mu Flux, an EP on the small Camera Obscura sub-label Camera Lucida
which contained three instrumentals.
The members of Abunai! announced in 2001 that the band was on hold for the foreseeable future while the group concentrated on other projects, including Joe Turner's promotion and organizing of the fifth Terrastock festival in Boston in 2002. The final release by Abunai! appeared in 2003; like Deep Mu Flux, Two Brothers was a limited edition EP on Camera Lucida containing two versions of the title track as well as a live recording of "Lord Hampton" from the fourth Terrastock festival in 2000.
Since 2003, the band has played occasional reunion shows, including a 2006 date in Providence, Rhode Island as a part of a preview show for the sixth Terrastock festival and a 2010 show in Boston for the Deep Heaven Now Festival, along with experimenting with so-far unreleased recording sessions. In August 2010 the band made all its releases available for full download for a short period via Bandcamp.
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
/space rock
Space rock
Space rock is a subgenre of rock music; the term originally referred to a group of early, mostly British, 1970s progressive and psychedelic rock bands such as Hawkwind and Pink Floyd, characterised by slow, lengthy instrumental passages dominated by electric organs, synthesizers, experimental...
/folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
band from Boston, Massachusetts, USA primarily active from 1996 to 2001 on the Australian Camera Obscura
Camera Obscura (record label)
Camera Obscura was a record label founded by Australian music journalist Tony Dale in 1996. Described by Dale as 'a conduit for the release of contemporary acid-folk, psych-pop and space-rock,' the label put out almost ninety releases over fourteen years, the vast majority of which were...
record label.
History
Abunai! -- the name is Japanese in origin, translated as 'look out!' or 'watch out!' -- formed in 1996 after the four members began performing extended improvisational sessions. Though the band members played a variety of different instruments and all provided various vocals, the general live performance lineup was Dan Parmenter on bass, Brendan Quinn on guitar, Kris Thompson on keyboards and Joe Turner on drums.Due to musical and writing connections to the Ptolemaic Terrascope
Ptolemaic Terrascope
Ptolemaic Terrascope is a magazine covering old and new music, usually of a psychedelic nature. It has been published irregularly since 1989...
the band was asked to play the first Terrastock
Terrastock
Terrastock is a music festival organised periodically by Phil McMullen, formerly editor of the Ptolemaic Terrascope and since 2005 the publisher of the Terrascope Online website. The event typically features independent bands playing psychedelic rock....
festival in Providence
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
, Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
in 1997, where they also sold copies of a self-released and titled cassette taken from their initial sessions. Tony Dale, who had founded the Camera Obscura
Camera Obscura (record label)
Camera Obscura was a record label founded by Australian music journalist Tony Dale in 1996. Described by Dale as 'a conduit for the release of contemporary acid-folk, psych-pop and space-rock,' the label put out almost ninety releases over fourteen years, the vast majority of which were...
label the previous year, was in attendance for their set and offered to release the group's material. Abunai! remained with the label for its subsequent three albums and two EPs, though the band also released songs on a variety of compilations elsewhere.
The band's debut release, Universal Mind Decoder, appeared later in 1997; the title was a reference to a working title for the Byrds
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
song "Change is Now" from The Notorious Byrd Brothers
The Notorious Byrd Brothers
The Notorious Byrd Brothers is the fifth album by the American rock band The Byrds and was released in January 1968 on Columbia Records . Musically, the album represents the pinnacle of The Byrds' psychedelic experimentation, with the band blending together elements of folk rock, psychedelic rock,...
.
Abunai!'s second release, 1999's The Mystic River Sound, was created and presented as a supposed compilation album covering "the seedy, sour suburbs north of Boston," referencing both numerous album compilations of small psychedelic and rock scenes as well as the Turtles
The Turtles
The Turtles are an American rock group led by vocalists Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman. The band became notable for several Top 40 hits beginning with its cover version of Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" in 1965...
album The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands. All songs on the album were written and performed by the group, with false group names acting as musical or local in-jokes and references.
The group's final full length release, 2000's Round Wound, was conceived and presented in the form of a classic Dean Markley Strings
Dean Markley Strings
Dean Markley Strings is a company that manufactures musical instrument related products, primarily strings for acoustic and electric guitars, classical guitars and bass guitars. The company also produces pick ups, amplifiers, and tuners, with instrument strings being their feature product....
package, with the album title written in the company's logo font and the artwork and overall layout similarly parodying the look. Underground cult New England musician Bobb Trimble
Bobb Trimble
Bobb Trimble is a cult psych-folk/outsider musician from Marlborough, Massachusetts.-Biography:He released two full-lengths, 1980's Iron Curtain Innocence and 1982's Harvest of Dreams...
appeared on the song "Buzz Bombb." Released simultaneously with Round Wound was Deep Mu Flux, an EP on the small Camera Obscura sub-label Camera Lucida
Camera Lucida
Camera Lucida is a short book published in 1980 by the French literary theorist and philosopher Roland Barthes. It is simultaneously an inquiry into the nature and essence of photography and a eulogy to Barthes' late mother...
which contained three instrumentals.
The members of Abunai! announced in 2001 that the band was on hold for the foreseeable future while the group concentrated on other projects, including Joe Turner's promotion and organizing of the fifth Terrastock festival in Boston in 2002. The final release by Abunai! appeared in 2003; like Deep Mu Flux, Two Brothers was a limited edition EP on Camera Lucida containing two versions of the title track as well as a live recording of "Lord Hampton" from the fourth Terrastock festival in 2000.
Since 2003, the band has played occasional reunion shows, including a 2006 date in Providence, Rhode Island as a part of a preview show for the sixth Terrastock festival and a 2010 show in Boston for the Deep Heaven Now Festival, along with experimenting with so-far unreleased recording sessions. In August 2010 the band made all its releases available for full download for a short period via Bandcamp.
Band members
- Dan Parmenter - bass, vocals, keyboards
- Brendan Quinn - guitar, vocals
- Kris Thompson - organ, vocals
- Joe Turner - drums, guitar, keyboard, vocals
Special Guests
- Scot Campanella - guitar
- Cheryl Wanner - vocals
- Ajda the Turkish Queen - flute
- Mark Dwinnel - guitar (live)
- Nick Saloman - guitar (live)
Full length albums
- Universal Mind Decoder (1997)
- Mystic River Sound (1999)
- Round-Wound (2000)