Myths & Heroes
As the Japanese band’s mystery erodes, their psychedelic power intensifies.
By Grayson Haver Currin.
Les Rallizes Dénudés: (from left) Mikio Nagata, Takashi Mizutani, Shunichiro Shoda and Takeshi Nakamura trip the light fantastic.
Les Rallizes Dénudés
’67-’69 Studio Et Live
★★★
Mizutani
★★★★
’77 Live
★★★★★
TEMPORAL DRIFT. CD/DL/LP
HAS ROCK’N’ROLL ever rendered another band as enigmatic and enticing as Les Rallizes Dénudés? Born of the international countercultural groundswell of the late ’60s, the diacritical henchmen of global psychedelia have courted mystery since they took a name: French? (No.) A William Burroughs reference? (Doubtful.) And then there’s a story of a hijacked plane, uproarious student protests, and, of course, Takashi Mizutani, the shrieking and scabrous guitarist so cool and severe in his obsidian shades he made Lou Reed look like a cheery sunflower. What’s more, the Rallizes officially released just three discs at the dawn of the ’90s, causing the curious to ferret out scintillating bootlegs. The music’s enshrined mystery and supposed magic were mutual reinforcements.