Who else would create the Plastic Tree topic? Feel free to talk all about Pura in this thread, whether it be about their songs, albums, PVs or members themselves! Artist threads are primarily meant for fans, but if anyone’s looking for recommendations or has any questions this a good place to go. Though they’re quite well known, here’s a quick rundown:
Formed by Ryutaro Arimura and Tadashi Hasegawa in 1993, this band has been making music nonstop ever since with very few lineup changes. While they are rooted in alternative rock, they are well-known for dabbling in all sorts of genres, from their grunge and new wave beginnings to their more recent dream-pop sound. Their ability to seamlessly blend together the sounds of the east and west and Ryutaro’s poetic yet depressive lyrics makes them particularly stand out. Plastic Tree fans are called “Kurage” because Ryutaro really likes jellyfish.
Current lineup:
Vocals: (有村竜太朗) Ryutaro Arimura (Also has a solo career under his name)
Guitar: (ナカヤマアキラ) Akira Nakayama (Plays support for COTD and will be debuting his solo career on his birthday this January!)
Bass: (長谷川正) Tadashi Hasegawa
Drums: (佐藤ケンケン) Kenken Satou
Former members (all drummers):
Hiroshi Sasabuchi (2001-2009, currently involved in Tokyo Shoegazer)
TAKASHI (1996-2001)
KOJI (1994)
SHIN (1994-1996)
With a discography spanning 25 years, I’ll save some space here by leaving a VK.gy link for anyone who wants to know more about their releases. Their OHP is a good place to check for info on lives and releases as well.
Funnily enough, I myself slept on them for years. For me, they were always on my peripheral and I only listened to a few songs of theirs casually. That is until about a year ago when I saw the PV for 絶望の丘 and then went on a discog deep-dive because that song is soooo good. I do recommend checking them out if you have a chance, I’m so glad that I did! Do you need any recommendations? Puppet Show is their best album and an all-around masterpiece, I would suggest starting with their earlier stuff and then building to their later stuff–that’s how I fell in love
I do like them but I listen to them occasionally on youtube. A friend of mine recommended me some albums but I still didn’t have time to check them out.
I’ve been listening to chandelier (mainly Sanbika) on my old mp3 player from middle school when I go out to walk my dog some. I never really dived deep into any of their other material, I always intended to pick up that European release of What is “Plastic Tree”?, but I always forget to… I’ve liked everything I’ve heard from PT so far and will def pay close attention to this thread.
When I first got into VK, I wanted to check them out, and HATE RED, DIP IT. was my first song. I hated it. But it wasn’t representative of Pura’s vast discography. I tried them out again a few years later, and got hooked instantly.
I particularly enjoy their music from 2009—2016. I think some of their best songs are on Hakusei, ammonite, Dona Dona and ink. The last two albums have been alright, but haven’t gripped me as much as they used to.
Hoping for a return to form in the future, though I recall Ryutarou saying something about them entering the ‘final stages’ of Plastic Tree. Guess we’ll see.
Oof, I love that song but you’re right, they’ve done so much with so many genres that realistically speaking, there’s at least song for just about everyone’s taste out there. Once you branch out, most people do get that “hooked/addicted” feeling
Oh, interesting! Most fans really hate Hakusei lol. I personally like it but it’s still my least favourite album, though “least favourite Pura album” still ranks higher than some other band’s best works for me lmao. Dona Dona and Ink are so super solid (I’m really fond of Ink’s album songs more than the singles) and Ammonite was an absolute tour de force of artistry, especially given the tragic backstory behind it which really made the depression fest even more of an emotionally rending experience for me.
Yeah, I’m curious as to where they’re gonna go next. Ipersonally thought Dooradore was a step up from Hakusei and Juushoku Teiri a proper return to form but each of those albums has a distinctly different feel to them… With Pura entering the last stages of its run, I wonder where else they could possibly go but I know that they’ll somehow manage to change and evolve every step of the way. Even though every album sounds just a little different from the last, I’m still impressed at all the artistic/genre ground they’ve covered. That’s probably their greatest strength imo.
Totally agree. They’ve put out so much music, there’s really something for everyone if they try hard enough, haha. I still HATE RED, so to speak, to this day, haha. But mainly every other song is at least ‘good’ in my books, with so many being amongst my favorite songs ever.
Hakusei isn’t my favorite album, but there’s a few tracks that really stand out to me, like Float and Insomnia Blues.
I’m surprised you like ammonite so much! When it came out, the discussion revolving around it seemed to be pretty divisive. People were saying that it was all over the map; but that’s what I loved about it. Such a wildly colorful and diverse album. Plus, it gets credit for getting me interested in the shoegaze genre, which I still love to this day.
As for Ink, I didn’t like it at first, but it quickly grew on me so much. Piano Black and 君はカナリヤ are endless repeats for me. I actually thought the singles were so good, haha.
And before I forget, I can’t go without a mention of echo, probably my favorite mini-album of all time!
I’m both excited and apprehensive to see whatever they put out next. Just when they seem to be getting stale to me, they throw out something like C.C.C which gives me hope for an Ink-level album in the future.
I feel the same way! It’s crazy when you put it into perspective, that over their 27(!) years together, they’ve been all hit and no miss (though with varying degrees of hitting hard).
I sat down with it and really took it in, it’s really meant to be listened to in the foreground despite the shoegazy tracks being “background-able” if you know what I mean. And yes, I think you’ve hit the nail on the head, that diversity is what makes it good! It’s a journey, Ammonite. You’ve gotta follow it every step of the way or you’ll be lost.
Ah, don’t get me wrong, I still think the singles are really great (especially 静脈) but it was like, I liked the singles but when I listened to the rest of the album I loved the non-single songs even more. Especially the sweet-sounding 君はカナリヤ and the shoegazy and atmospheric てふてふ. Echo slaps hard the whole way through, you could tell that they were sitting on some gems and decided to compile them. 瞳孔 is one of my fav Pura songs still. And I was really apprehensive of 影絵 until it hit the chorus (that piano sounds really like… Not Pura if you know what I mean), then I fell in love
I’ve always found Plastic Tree to be really consistent. I can name songs that I love from each release, and Puppet Show is still one of my all time favs.
Maybe not the greatest live vocalist, but they are on my list of bands to see if I can make it to Japan by next year.
Hello !! I recently got into Plastic Tree and am really loving some of their songs, but I haven’t been able to listen to their Hakusei album due to it not being available in my region digitally. Could you guys let me know where to listen to it?? I would really appreciate it
I was thinking. I really love Puppet show but couldn’t get into their other stuff too much. Except that, I like their songs Ghost and Tetris, but some of their other songs don’t work for me.
Do you think you could recommend me something from them? Thank you in advance
It’s one of my favourites too, though!
