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.
Zero
BUCK-TICK Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
このまま雨になればいいさ
震えた体を撃ち抜く
俺の中には赤の目覚め
あふれた狂気の前ぶれ 狂える太陽
まるでわめき叫ぶ 顔を溶かしてた
この体 きっとキラメク
ああ 燃えて尽きる
その指でそっと 殺シテ
鳴々 消えて失せる
ゼロになるさ 全てが
これから俺は
何処へ逃げて行くのか?
笑って死ぬのさ
月に化けた君を愛し眠る
もう明日はいらない
俺はもう沈む 唄う事をやめた獣
帰る家もない
女の胸で 何を想い
そっと涙流すのか?
この体 きっとキラメク
ああ 燃えて尽きる
ハイになるさ 今夜は
その指でそっと 殺シテ
鳴々 消えて失せる
ゼロになるさ 全てが
青空がそっと手招く
ああ 溶けて浮かぶ
ハイになるさ 今夜は
もう一度ずっと飛ぶのさ
ああ 真実さえ
ゼロになるさ 全てが
The lyrics to BUCK-TICK's song ZERO describe a person who is on the brink of insanity and is seeking release from the pain and confusion they are experiencing. The song starts with the person wishing for rain so that they can shoot through their trembling body and awaken the red madness within them. The person's mental state is further described as the sun going crazy and melting their face away. In the midst of all this madness, the person feels a sense of clarity and sees their body shining as it burns to ashes. They feel alive and high in the moment, as if they could kill someone with their touch.
The second verse is more introspective, as the person questions where they can run away to and whether they will die with a smile on their face. The person has fallen in love with someone who has transformed into the moon, and they feel they can no longer survive without this person. They have no home to return to and feel lost in their own skin. The chorus repeats the sentiment that everything will become zero and disappear, while the blue sky beckons to them.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh
A casual exclamation
このまま雨になればいいさ
It would be great if it rained right now
震えた体を撃ち抜く
Piercing through my trembling body
俺の中には赤の目覚め
An awakening of red inside me
あふれた狂気の前ぶれ 狂える太陽
The forerunner of overflowing madness, a crazed sun
まるでわめき叫ぶ 顔を溶かしてた
As if screaming, melting faces
この体 きっとキラメク
This body will surely sparkle
ああ 燃えて尽きる
Ah, burning until the end
ハイになるさ 今夜は
I'll get high tonight
その指でそっと 殺シテ
Softly killing with those fingers
鳴々 消えて失せる
Buzzing disappears
ゼロになるさ 全てが
Everything becomes zero
これから俺は
From now on, I
何処へ逃げて行くのか?
Where will I run away to?
笑って死ぬのさ
I'll die laughing
月に化けた君を愛し眠る
I sleep loving you who turned into the moon
もう明日はいらない
I don't need tomorrow anymore
俺はもう沈む 唄う事をやめた獣
I'm already sinking, a beast that stopped singing
帰る家もない
I don't have a home to return to
女の胸で 何を想い
What am I thinking in a woman's chest?
そっと涙流すのか?
Am I shedding tears softly?
青空がそっと手招く
The blue sky beckons softly
ああ 溶けて浮かぶ
Ah, melting and floating
もう一度ずっと飛ぶのさ
I'll fly forever once again
ああ 真実さえ
Ah, even truth
ゼロになるさ 全てが
Becomes zero, everything
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: 敦司 桜井
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind