Tatsuya Yoshida is well known as the leader of the longstanding punk/prog duo The Ruins. The manic combination of power and precision in The Ruins has been at the core of most everything else he's done, and is heightened in his group Koenjihyakkei. Where the driving bass and drums of The Ruins are hardcore, falling in some ways more on the punk divide of the formula, Koenjihyakkei ups the prog ante with four singers, carnival keyboards and a cleaner sound.

As with The Ruins, the songs on Hundred Nights of Koenji - the band's first record, from 1994, now seeing it's first US release - are primarily in Yoshida's made-up language (although one song follows the form of a Greek prayer), and are heavily rhythm-driven. But it's a cleaner band, and with more instrumental voices, better shows Yoshida's imaginative arrangements. It's a tightly woven chaos, with multiple vocals and keyboards continually revolving parts in a comic opera held together by the force of Yoshida's drums and Kuwahara Shigekazu's bass. Often lost in the thicket, even here with Yoshida's new mix, is Masuda Ryuichi's guitar. Ryuichi was playing bass with the Ruins at the time of the recording, so he knows the music well, but his guitar tone can be so close to the keyboards that it sounds like a trio. That's not a difference that makes much of a difference, however. While Koenjihyakkei grew in size and diminished in dynamic over their following records, Hundred Sights is a hilarious and perfectly executed adrenaline rush.