‘Amidst the lingering traces of the bustling crowd, The scent of embers lingers as I make my way home, Looking down, searching for the answer’ (雑踏 / Choking)

Tokyo’s Raw Distractions have been honing their UK82 inspired hardcore for over a decade, releasing four 7-inch EPs and a couple of demos.  Now, they step up to the challenge of their debut full-length, and it is one that they meet with a swaggering assurance.  奇しく燃える (Strangely Burning) is the statement of a band who have immersed themselves in their influences to the point where they now have the confidence to imbue them with their own thoroughly distinctive energy.

Front and centre are the band’s vibrantly skittering leads and ripping solos, which are unleashed with an unabashed zeal.  They are boldly melodic and lean into Burning Spirits territory but with a dash more rock’n’roll strut.  The scaffolding is provided by the surging UK82 riffage, with just a dash of NWOBHM gallop, and a fiercely unassuming rhythm section.  Meanwhile, the desperation shredded vocals, and the combatively catchy backing, tackle themes of social conformity and the dangers of rising political and religious extremism.

As they sweep from the rampaging title track to the soaring melodicism of No! Racist, and then from the jagged melancholy of 雑踏 to the thoroughly unexpected Gregorian chanting that is braided through Midnight, it is a raw, compellingly instinctual battery.