BACK-ON Celebrate 20th Anniversary with TOTALFAT Collab Single ‘1994’!

Popular rock band BACK-ON continues its 20th anniversary celebrations with the release of new single ‘1994 featuring TOTALFAT’. The release is the second within as many months to feature a band of similar age, style and history as BACK-ON. As with last month’s single with FLOW, both bands have experienced millions of streams, had songs featured in well-known anime’s franchises, and have fans all over the globe. The single is available to download and stream now.

TOTALFAT, whose vibe METAL HAMMER describes as containing “the best parts of 90’s skate punk”, are of the same generation as BACK-ON. Members of both bands hold fond memories of 1994 and bonded over the music and street culture of the time. The results found their way into the song’s music and lyrics.

The single is coupled with ‘WAVES (TEEDA’s BEAT JACK)’ and sees BACK-ON’s MC TEEDA rework the entire lyrical structure of the song. The original version of ‘WAVES’, found on latest album Still B/O was picked by official editors at Spotify for the platform’s Pop Punk’s Not Dead playlist, which has over half-a-million likes.

BACK-ON guitarist KENJI03 comments, “1994 was the year of Green Day’s ‘Basket Case’, Oasis’ ‘Supersonic’ and countless other tracks that would shape a generation. Times may have changed, but I’m glad we could share our timeless connection to this era alongside TOTALFAT.”

BACK-ON MC TEEDA comments, “It was a ton of fun to make a song with TOTALFAT, especially in the same year as our 20th anniversary. We could record while reminiscing about all the bands and fashion of when our bands first started. It felt like we were back in those days again! I think the end result is packed with references to our roots, while also full of playfulness.”

On the single’s coupling track ‘WAVES (TEEDA’s BEAT JACK)’, TEEDA also comments, “there was a lot of skate culture mixed with other cultures in the early 2000s, so I thought it would be interesting to mix that sound with contemporary rap. I also played around with the song’s hook, and worked it to have a West Coast vibe. Both tracks on this single are perfect for summer, I hope they’re the soundtrack to yours!”

Shun from TOTALFAT says, “The longer we go on, the more we look back and realise how important our roots are. Creating ‘1994’ helped to remind me that BACK-ON and TOTALFAT have been able to keep going strong because our foundation never fades. Above all, the joy of celebrating the 20th anniversary of BACK-ON by collaborating with our dear friends of the same generation is something special. BO and TF never die! Happy 20th anniversary, from the bottom of my heart!”

Jose from TOTALFAT adds, “I really enjoyed singing with BACK-ON because the sounds and words they create are filled with many elements that resonate with me because of being the same generation and having similar roots. I think this song is truly a song filled with the stuff us 1994 kids can connect with. I hope you enjoy this song this summer!”

BACK-ON Looks Towards the Skys with Latest Single!

SKY WALKER Digital Jacket Cover

SKY WALKER Digital Jacket Cover

Rock band BACK-ON have over 100 million streams to their name. A string of hit songs used as themes to Japan’s biggest anime and video game franchises. And they recently released 15-year anniversary best of album FLIP SOUND featuring their most iconic hits reimagined. Japan’s BACK-ON show no signs of slowing down as the cheeky duo from Tokyo’s Adachi district reveal plans for a brand-new album this November, along with their latest release “SKY WALKER”.

The new upbeat new single is entitled SKY WALKER, and sees BACK-ON’s TEEDA and KENJI03 once again switch it up with genres, this time a high-energy electro-rap track featuring unique rock riffs, chilled beats and massive pop melodies. 

KENJI03 comments, “There’s no time limit for a dream.  Opportunities and chances can be seized by anyone. Enjoy your life even if people laugh at you! We wrote the lyrics with this as the theme. I want this track to encourage those who hear it.”

Lyricist and MC TEEDA adds, “Until now the music I’ve made has sometimes been swayed by obstacles or feeling that I’m not good enough. I guess it’s part of our roots. Yet the lyrics to this song are so exciting and full of hope. And after everything, we’re able to freely make music from our hometown of Adachi! Wasn’t that always our dream? When you listen to Sky Walker I would be so happy if you could chase after your dreams and pursue”

Leading up this announcement BACK-ON dropped their brilliant call-back to the golden age of pop punk with their latest single WAVES. The track was picked up by Spotify’s official “Pop Punk’s Not Dead” playlist, being one of the only non-English songs amongst the latest releases from Travis Barker, All Time Low and Sum 41.

KENJI03 states, “This is our first summer love song. This year we couldn’t hit the beach because of COVID, so instead we made this song around the image of having a casual date by the sea. Be sure to play it loud while cruising along the coastline! Haha.”

TEEDA concludes “We wanted to make the pop-punk style from the 2000s into a new sound, so those of the same generation as us will be like ‘Oh, I know this sound!’, and I’d be so happy if the newer generation were like ‘Oh, so fresh!’.”

WAVES followed a collaboration with Japan’s godfather of rock / street culture JESSE (RIZE, The BONEZ), the icon responsible for naming BACK-ON two-decades ago. The track Kill the Beat feat. JESSE saw them go back to their roots and bring back that early 2000s nu-metal, rap-rock sound in an aggressive but fun celebration of the music BACK-ON and JESSE originally fell in love with. The track was also selected for Deezer’s official “Heavy New Rock” playlist, and was again the only non-English track included.

BACK-ON’s new album is currently unnamed and will be released on 10 November 2021. 

Be sure to check out the lyric video for SKY WALKER below along with the track here!

BACK-ON Unite with RIZE Frontman JESSE for New Digital Single!

“Kill The Beat” Digital Jacket Cover

“Kill The Beat” Digital Jacket Cover

Currently celebrating their 15th anniversary year, rock band BACK-ON release their latest single “Kill the Beat feat. JESSE” on July 30, along with a music video. The song is a collaboration with JESSE, frontman of revered rock bands RIZE and The BONEZ. It was JESSE who originally gave BACK-ON their name back when they began – BACK-ON being Japanese wordplay that means “explosive sound”. 

“Kill the Beat” is BACK-ON’s first ever collaboration song, produced with the intention of returning to the roots of rap-rock. JESSE and BACK-ON members KENJI03 and TEEDA sing and rap intertwining lines over a heavy beat that will transport you back to the music scene of the early 2000s.

A teaser “spot” video released ahead of the single features a clip of the song over vintage footage of BACK-ON and JESSE from earlier in their careers. It’s a rare and valuable glimpse into Japanese rap-rock history!

Be sure to check out the music video in question along with the track here!

BACK-ON’s Fan-Favorite Songs Get a Glow-Up on Self-Covers Album!

Having performed for audiences across Asia, Europe and North and South America, Japanese rock band BACK-ON release FLIP SOUND on February 17, an album of self-covers featuring re-recorded versions of their most popular worldwide hits. The collection includes versions of BACK-ON’s theme tunes for globally celebrated franchises such as the Gundam anime series and PlayStation Portable game Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2, making it a truly special must-hear collection for fans.

Some of these songs were originally released many years ago, so these brand-new self-covers are a chance to hear classic BACK-ON tunes reborn with a modern glow-up.

BACK-ON members KENJI03 and TEEDA made the following comments to mark the album’s release.

Comment from KENJI03

BACK-ON celebrated our 15th anniversary in October last year, and now we are excited to release this collection of newly arranged self-covers of songs from our back catalogue that we have played live around the world! Once things return to normal, we can't wait to get back on the road and see everyone – until then, we hope you’ll enjoy this album, and let’s all get through this together!

Comment from TEEDA

While we’re excited to release this 15th anniversary album ‘FLIP SOUND’, I’m so sorry that we cannot perform these updated versions of our songs live for our fans around the world. But this situation will end eventually – and when it does, we’ll be right there, so please wait for us!

Be sure to check out their latest music video “STRIKE BACK” along with the order links for FLIP SOUND below, and the streaming link or the album here!

Standard edition

Limited edition

FLIP SOUND Jacket Cover

FLIP SOUND Jacket Cover

BACK-ON 「FLIP SOUND」

01. Butterfly

02. STRIKE BACK

03. flower

04. flyaway

05. Nibun no Ichi

06. DRIVE

07. Sands of time

08. a day dreaming...

09. BLAZE LINE

10. NEW WORLD

11. Hikari Sasuhou

12. Over

13. INFINITY

14. Believer

15. Ultimate Adachi

BACK-ON Flip The Sound On In New Album

Rock band BACK-ON has announced they will be dropping a brand-new album titled Flip sound which is set to be released on February 17. This will be the group’s sixth album overall and will be the first album the group has released in close to five years. BACK-ON has provided several themes for various anime including Air Gear, Fairy Tale, and Eyeshield 21, to name a few. 

Flip Sound is being released in two editions total: a standard two-disc CD edition and a two-disc CD plus DVD edition. So far there are twenty-nine songs that have been revealed for the album and the DVD feature has not been decided on at the time of reporting. Pre-orders are up and posted below along with a tentative track-listing. Lastly, be sure to check out their song “STRIKE BACK” posted in the video below that will be on the upcoming album.

Standard Edition

Two CD plus DVD Edition


BACK-ON 「Flip Sound」

Disc-1

・Arutimetto Adachi

・OVER

・a day dreaming...

・Believer

・NEW WORLD

・Hikarisasuhou

・DRIVE

・BLAZE LINE

・flower

・Butterfly

・Sands of time

・flyaway

・Nibunnoichi

・INFINITY

・STRIKE BACK

Disc-2

・Carry on

・Clown

・Laugh now

・Misty rain

・Knock knock

・WILD THING(cover)

・Wannabe(cover)

・Good morning

・Switch

・rebirth

・three two one

・TOKYO BE-BOP

・Shall we dance

・Chain2020

+ New song (added by Smapla, not recorded on board)

Disc-3 DVD

Contents undecided