Artists
ストレイテナー (Straightener)
Biography
Guitarist Horie Atsushi and drummer Nakayama Shinpei formed Straightener in 1998.
It would take two years of steady performing before the band reached a point where it could release its first recording, Straighten it Up. In 2001, the duo embarked on a nationwide tour of Japan.
After releasing a number of singles and EPs on the LD&K and Run Run Run labels, Straightener started its own label, ghost records, and released two more EPs. In 2003, the duo signed with Toshiba-EMI.
The band released its full-length debut album, Lost World's Anthology, in January 2004.
Among Straightener's many releases is a split cassette with Art-School, also an EMI labelmate. The two bands share a similar penchant for post-punk power pop. Horie possesses an appealing voice strengthened only by his precise guitar playing.