Japanther was an American punk band established by Matt Reilly and Ian Vanek, then students at

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was founded in 1887 ...

. Japanther was featured in the 2006

Whitney Biennial The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, United States. The event began as an annual exhibition ...

and the 2011

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

, and collaborated with a diverse pool of artists such as

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Dan Graham Daniel Graham (March 31, 1942 – February 19, 2022) was an American visual artist, writer, and curator in the writer-artist tradition. In addition to his visual works, he published a large array of critical and speculative writing that spanned ...

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, Kevin Bouton-Scott, robbinschilds, Dawn Riddle, Claudia Meza, Todd James, Devin Flynn, Ninjasonik, Anita Sparrow and

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. Japanther made its name with unique performance situations, appearing alongside synchronized swimmers, atop the

Williamsburg Bridge The Williamsburg Bridge is a suspension bridge in New York City across the East River connecting the Lower East Side of Manhattan at Delancey Street with the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn at Broadway near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressw ...

, with giant puppets, marionettes and shadow puppets, in the back of a moving truck in Soho, and at shows with giant dinosaurs and BMXers flying off the walls. Installations include The Phone Booth Project at The Clocktower Gallery in New York. Described as "art-rock installation paratroopers" and "a studied form of New Wave anarchism" by ''Flash Art'', a "Performance Galaxy" by ''Vanity Fair'', "Super hard, incredibly fast and overall inspiring" by ''Thrasher'', "more accessible than other bands of its genre" by the ''New Yorker'', and "the best band ever, straight up" by ''Tokion''. Japanther has always been a band apart, running the gamut from performance art to punk rock and back again. Pushing parties to the limit ("Lincoln Center punk-rock concert turned mini-riot" -''New York Post)'', Japanther returned in 2011 with ''Beets, Limes and Rice,'' a celebration of ten years in the underground and an ultra-contemporary meditation on "catharsis and being in love in a time of darkness.". The band's album ''Beets, Limes and Rice,'' written in the midst of 84-hour performance piece "It Never Seems to End," was released in digital and vinyl format from Recess Records, on CD from Japanther's own Tapes Records, on cassette from Lauren Records, and by Seayou Records in Europe. The artwork for the album was created by Monica Canilao. Their song "The Gravy" was featured in the 2010 skateboarding video game '' Skate 3''. When promoting his new musical project Howardian in 2016, drummer Ian Vanek announced that he had quit Japanther "almost three years ago", all but confirming that the band was over after 13 years.

Discography

* ''The Last of the Living Land Pirates'' CD-R (2001) * ''South of Northport'' EP (2002) * '' Leather Wings'' (2003) * ''Dump the Body in Rikki Lake'' (2003) * ''Japanther/Panthers'' split 7" (2003) * ''The Operating Manual for Life on Earth ''EP (2004) * ''Japanther/Sneeze'' split 7" (2004) * ''Japanther/Viking Club'' split CD (2004) * '' Master of Pigeons'' (2005) * ''Wolfenswan'' (2005) *'' Yer Living Grave ''EP (2005) * ''Don't Trust Anyone Over Thirty'' (2006) * ''Japanther/ The Good Good'' split 7" (2006) * '' Skuffed Up My Huffy'' (2007) * ''Challenge'' 7" (2008) * ''Chemical X Zine'' DVD (2008) * '' Tut Tut, Now Shake Ya Butt'' (2008) * ''Japanther/The Pharmacy'' split 7" (2008) * ''Rock 'n' Roll Ice Cream'' (2010) * ''JapantherNinjasonik 7"'' (2010) * ''Beets, Limes and Rice'' (2011) * '' Eat Like Lisa Act Like Bart'' (2013) * ''Donut Shop Bounce'' EP (2014) *'' Instant Money Magic ''(2014) * '' Boom for Real'' (2016)

Compilations

* ''I Think We Should Stay Away from Each Other LP'' (2011)

References

External links

Spinner Interview

Flavorpill Fix Episode Four Animated and Curated by Japanther

"Upstairs at the Square," with China Mieville

"Big Apple Circus Goes Indie," at the New York Times' T Magazine

"21 Questions with Ian Vanek" at the Nervous Breakdown

"Japanther Warehouse Party," (Slideshow) The Village Voice
{{Authority control Punk rock groups from New York (state) Musical groups from Brooklyn Rock music duos American noise rock music groups Musical groups established in 2001