JAPAN - ADOLESCENT SEX @ 45

 

Released this day, on April 8th, 1978, the debut LP from UK band Japan, Adolescent Sex, is celebrating 45 years on the shelves. At the time of its release, the band were still miles away from where they’d end up, creating a document of awkwardly fused glam and punk rock struggling to find an identity.

Founded in 1974 by brothers David & Steven Batt (later sir names changed to Sylvian & Jansen, respectively), along with schoolmates, Mick Karn, Richard Barbieri and Rob Dean, the band began from scratch by teaching themselves how to play their instruments. The name, Japan, was initially intended only as a temporary moniker, but it ended up being permanent when nothing better came along that suited their tastes. By 1976, they’d developed enough as musicians to catch the attention of Simon Napier-Bell, who signed a management deal with them. SNB also managed bands such as The Yardbirds, Marc Bolan's T-Rex, London and Wham! After winning a label-sponsored talent contest, the band signed a recording contract with the German disco label Hansa-Ariola in 1977, becoming an alternative glam rock outfit in the mold of Lou Reed, David Bowie, T.Rex, Roxy Music, and the New York Dolls although their initial material was principally guitar-based funk.

When you put it all together: the frizzled hair, gobs of makeup, snotty sneering and gritty punk-funk grooves - it didn’t make a lot of sense and the few press comments they got at their debut were generally dismissive and disparaging. Trouser Press wrote that the album "introduces Japan in all its guitar-rock misery, playing such Bowie-influenced tripe as 'Wish You Were Black' with less style than a sense of urgency". They were promising musicians, but the whole look and sound seemed like it was out of place in every sense compared to what else was going on in the industry. There was little indication that they’d be capable of morphing into the harbingers of “New Romantic” sophistication which would become their final form only a bit more than a year later with their third LP, Quiet Life. When the debut album was released internationally, many countries put it out with an eponymous title, taking offense to the sexual suggestiveness of the original. In the UK, the sales for their debut were pretty dismal, yet thanks to their name, they quickly developed a devoted and significant following in the country from which they'd borrowed their name, the land of the rising sun, Japan. The debut album was followed by a UK tour supporting Blue Öyster Cult. Intended to promote the album Japan faced more negative criticism and hostile audiences. In August 1978 their second single "The Unconventional" failed to chart. In November, the band also made a short US tour, but although they were better accepted by American audiences it proved to be their last and only foray into US soil.

Retrospectively, the band has little love for their debut. David Sylvian later commented that they were far too young and naive to be making an album at that point in their career and he was surprised they were encouraged and supported in pursing such a misguided product. Still, fans of their later work, myself included, found themselves backtracking into these early albums and, while both amused and bemused by the difference to the band we later came to adore, still consider these works as charming in their innocence and determination. And there’s even the odd song or two that still merits a listen again. AllMusic retrospectively gave the album a 4.5 out of 5 grade, writing: "A more exciting album than just about anything else they'd ever record, Japan were young, hungry, and more than a little rough around the edges." I don’t agree with that assessment of their later work by any means, but it’s still nice that their debut has garnered some respect after all these years.