The band members are 櫻井敦司 (Sakurai Atsushi) (vocals), 今井寿 (Imai Hisashi) (guitars, noises, electronics, vocals), 星野英彦 (Hoshino Hidehiko) (guitars, chorus), 桶口豊 (Higuchi Yutaka) (bass) and ヤガミ・トール (Yagami Toll) (drums).
BUCK-TICK's music has changed and evolved hugely over the course of their career. Their early work is what the Japanese call "positive punk". It used simple rhythms and chords, with the songs mostly in major keys and using some English words in the lyrics. Starting with 1989's TABOO, they experimented with a darker sound, which grew more mature with 狂った太陽 in 1991. darker than darkness style 93 delved into a harsher industrial rock sound which continued all the way up through Mona Lisa OVERDRIVE in 2003. With 2005's 十三階は月光, they deliberately adopted a "goth" concept, which they combined with a retro straight rock sound for the albums 天使のリボルバー (2007) and Memento Mori (2009). Their next album, 2010's RAZZLE DAZZLE, then incorporated many instances of dance-rock.
Some elements that persist throughout their music are resounding, jangling guitar chords, throbbing, prominent bass lines, harsh roars of electronically distorted noise, and ambivalent melodies that wander between major and minor keys, as well as Sakurai's distinctive rich baritone voice. Jrockrevolution described the band's style as having gone "from the bubbly sounds of pop to the buzz of electronic cyberpunk to lustful velvety goth to the smooth style of hard rock and back again". Sakurai, who is the main lyricist of the band, is famous for the erotic decadence of his lyrics, but he also often addresses existential psychological themes. His lyrics is also described as "dance in a daydream about reality". Imai, the main composer, has written many songs that read like science fiction stories, involving genetic engineering and computer hackers, but more recently has branched out into love songs.
As Josephine Yun describes them, in 'A Concise Report on 40 of the Biggest Rock Acts in Japan', "BUCK-TICK's music is smashed-together nuances of everything from Depeche Mode and New Order to U2 and The Knack. While wry, it can float and be nebulously melodic. [...] Masked in eye makeup, Atsushi looks and sounds possessed. BUCK-TICK was (and continues to be) and anomaly in the Japanese music scene, a tangle of goth rock diluted with synth and electronica. It's unhappy, dirty music, the musical equivalent of exploded soot and smoke."
BUCK-TICK and their members have performed with, for example, KMFDM, Soft Ballet, Luna Sea, Sheena Ringo, and The Yellow Monkey. The band members have also participated in different side-projects, such as Schaft, Schwein (Sakurai and Imai with Raymond Watts (PIG) and Sascha Konietzko (KMFDM)), and The Mortal.
ICONOCLASM
BUCK-TICK Lyrics
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Hurry up iconic from beyond the desire
One for the Money Two for the X
Um…Skip a three and four
Five for Japanese Babies
Iconoclasm Teaching of Angel
Iconoclasm Teaching of Angel
Clash and Clash
One for the Money Two for the X
Um…Skip a three and four
Five for Japanese Babies
Iconoclasm Teaching of Angel
Clash and Clash
Iconoclasm Teaching of Angel
Clash and Clash
Iconoclasm Teaching of Angel
Clash and Clash
Iconoclasm Teaching of Angel
Clash and Clash
Hurry up iconic from beyond the desire
Hurry up iconic from beyond the desire
The lyrics of BUCK-TICK's song ICONOCLASM suggest an urgent call to action, summoning an unnamed "iconic" figure to emerge from "beyond the desire." The repetition of the phrase "Hurry up iconic" suggests impatience or desperation, perhaps in the face of impending crisis or a pressing need for guidance. The subsequent lines seem to suggest a sequence of commands, possibly directed at the "iconic" figure, with a rhyme scheme that skips the number three and four: "One for the Money Two for the X / Um...Skip a three and four / Five for Japanese Babies." The meaning of these lines is somewhat opaque, but they suggest a sense of playfulness or irreverence that may be characteristic of BUCK-TICK's style. The chorus, with its repetition of the slogan "Iconoclasm Teaching of Angel / Clash and Clash," further underscores this sense of disruption or rebellion.
Line by Line Meaning
Hurry up iconic from beyond the desire
Urgently come forth, idolized figure, from a place of unfettered longing
One for the Money Two for the X
Beginning with a capital infusion followed by a reference to an illicit substance
Um…Skip a three and four
Skipping over certain numbers as they hold no significance
Five for Japanese Babies
A specific amount for a specific demographic, possibly referencing commercialism or targeting of vulnerable populations
Iconoclasm Teaching of Angel
The destruction of icons or traditional beliefs, as taught by celestial beings
Clash and Clash
An ongoing and intense confrontation or conflict
Contributed by Joseph D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.