Petrolz, formed in 2005 by Ryosuke Nagaoka, Jungo 'Jumbo' Miura, and Toshihide 'Bob' Kawamura, is one of the most respected three-piece bands in the current Japanese indie scene. They have been establishing their cult profile purely through word of mouth among core music fans in Japan over the last 18 years through their outstanding musicianship and unique grooves. The band have yet to reveal much about themselves, preferring to keep their media and social media appearances as scarce as possible. On top of their mysterious identity, their music has never been available in any physical or digital formats, except for a few CDs that they sold exclusively at shows and which have long gone out of print. However, as Ryosuke, the frontman of Petrolz describes, they feel like they are "more accepted (by people) than before", their shows at several thousand capacity venues sell out without any promotion whenever they go on domestic live tours. Petrolz’ music has acquired a value that won’t fade away as time goes by, similar to old friendships that are nurtured over time.

Petrolz started off by playing actively in Shimokitazawa, a cultural hub of Tokyo. Their current manager, the only person who contacted them after listening to their demo tape, encouraged them to start recording properly. In 2007, the band released 150 limited CDs of their debut mini-album "Karimen (Provisional Licence)". This album, "Ranhansha" is their first release outside of Japan and they began this journey by digging out the original masters from abandoned computers in a variety of warehouses, as some of the recording studios they had used had closed down. The band also re-recorded one of their most popular songs 'Tunnel' exclusively for this album, which makes the record even more precious, where we all can enjoy the mixture of old and new Petrolz songs. As well as the physical release, the record will be available digitally which must come as a delightful surprise for fans as this will be the first time in the band's long career that they have had any kind of digital release.

What makes this project even more unique is that the band welcomed Russell Elevado as a mixing engineer for this record. Elevado’s hands-on, creative approach to mixing have been the backbone of critically acclaimed masterpieces such as D'Angelo's "Voodoo" (2000) and Roy Hargrove's "Hard Groove" (2003). Having him mix these recordings has taken the recordings to another level, heightening the listeners audio experience beyond measure.

"Ranhansha" is a Japanese word for "dispersion of lights". The record is reimagining a vintage car cruising at night through Tokyo, the city surrounded by lights from the city’s skyscrapers mimicking a galaxy in space. It would be my greatest pleasure if its dispersion of sound, woven by these leading musicians of our time and the world's greatest engineer, could brighten up someone's life as if it were the lights of a mirror ball reflected on to a dancefloor.

Nariaki Obukuro (Co-Founder of TOKA Inc.)
24 May 2023

***Please note that orders of more than 2 copies will automatically be cancelled.