Abingdon Boys School

Abingdon Boys School
Also known as	a.b.s.
Origin	Japan
Genres	Alternative rock
Years active	2005–present
Labels	Epic Records Japan
Website	http://www.aabbss.com/
Members
Toshiyuki Kishi Takanori Nishikawa Hiroshi Shibasaki Sunao

Abingdon Boys School (アビングドンボーイズスクール, abingudon bōizu sukūru^?, abbreviated as a.b.s, typeset as abingdon boys school) is a Japanese rock band fronted by Takanori Nishikawa (T.M. Revolution). Formed in 2005, the band was named after the British independent school Abingdon School, in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, the all-male school where British rock band Radiohead was established.

Members

• Takanori Nishikawa (西川貴教, Nishikawa Takanori^?) – vocals (T.M. Revolution)
• Sunao – guitar
• Hiroshi Shibasaki (柴崎 浩, Shibasaki Hiroshi^?) – guitar (ex-Wands & ex-al.ni.co guitarist)
• Toshiyuki Kishi (岸 利至, Kishi Tushi^?) – keyboard, programming, and turntables

Support members

• Ikuo – bass guitar
• Kozy Hasegawa (長谷川 浩二, Hasegawa Kōji^?) – drums

History

In 2005, abingdon boys school released its first song, "Stay away", an English-language song written by Nishikawa and composed by Shibasaki, for the Love for Nana ~Only 1 Tribute~, a tribute album to the shōjo anime and manga series Nana. The band also recorded a cover of the Buck-Tick song, "Dress" (ドレス, Doresu^?), featured on Parade ~Respective Tracks of Buck-Tick~, an album featuring covers of Buck Tick songs by various artists.

The band performed their first live concert, "CD Data Present Music Evolution ’06", on November 24, 2005, alongside other bands Uverworld and Tsubakiya Quartet (椿屋四重奏, Tsubakiya Shijūsō^?). CD Data (CDでーた^?) is a Japanese music magazine.

On September 3, 2006, the band announced that they would make their official debut through Sony Music Japan's Epic Records, which was also the label of T.M.Revolution (Nishikawa's solo project). Their first single, Innocent Sorrow, used as the first opening to the anime D.Gray-Man, was released on December 6, 2006 and peaked at #5 on the Oricon music charts. The b-side song off their Innocent Sorrow single, "Fre@k $HoW", was used in a tribute compilation CD for the movie Death Note: the Last Name.

Their second single, Howling, was released on May 16, 2007. It was used as the first opening to the anime Darker Than Black and peaked at #4 on the Oricon charts in its first week of release. Their third single, entitled Nephilim, was released on July 4, 2007, and was used as the main theme to the PlayStation 3 game Folklore. The single reached a peak of #5 on the Oricon.

On July 7, 2007, a.b.s performed their three singles as well as the b-side from their latest single Nephilim, "Lost Reason", at the Japanese leg of Live Earth in Tokyo.^[1]

The band's first full studio album was released on October 17, 2007.^[2] Their 4th single, Blade Chord, was later released on December 5, 2007 and was used as the theme song to Sengoku Basara: Heroes. They have also covered a song, "Sweetest Coma Again", for the "Luna Sea: Memorial Cover" album, a full album of Luna Sea covers dedicated to the defunct rock band.

On July 16, 2008, abingdon boys school released a live DVD from the live concert they held in February 2008. The DVD was sold in two versions: a limited edition with two DVDs, different packaging, pictures, and stickers, and the normal edition with one DVD.^{[citation needed]}

The band released their 5th single, Strength, with Freedom serving as the b-side, on February 25, 2009, making it their first single release in over a year. Strength was used as the ending theme for the anime series Soul Eater. Their 6th single, JAP, had its radio premiere on on October 23, 2008, and was released on May 20, 2009 with Valkyrie as a b-side. JAP was used as the opening theme song to the Sengoku Basara anime as well as the PSP game Sengoku Basara Battle Heroes.

In 2009, Abingdon Boys School will take part in a special 2-day music event in Shiga, performing on September 19; Takanori's birthday. This is a event that Takanori was appointed as the new cultural ambassador of Shiga Prefecture.

Their song "Kimi no Uta" is used for the anime Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 and it was released on August 26, 2009.

Abingdon Boys School's song "From Dusk Till Dawn" is used as the ending theme for Darker than Black: Ryūsei no Gemini.

The song will be released as a single on December 16, 2009.

The band will in November 2009 go on a EUROPE TOUR

• 2009.11.03 Tue One Rock / Moscow (Russia)
• 2009.11.04. Wed　Tavastia / Helsinki (Finland)
• 2009.11.06. Fri　Klubben / Stockholm (Sweden)
• 2009.11.07. Sat　Markthalle / Hamburg (Germany)
• 2009.11.08. Sun　Columbiaclub / Berlin (Germany)
• 2009.11.10. Tue　Die Zeche / Bochum (Germany)
• 2009.11.11. Wed　La Locomotive / Paris (France)
• 2009.11.12. Thu　The Underworld / London (England)
• 2009.11.14. Sat　Metropolis Music Hall / Munich (Germany)

And as a part of their europe tour the band will release their first CD in europe called Teaching Materials. The album is a collection of their A-sides to B-sides up to the latest single Kimi no uta. It will be releast 2009.10.30. Tracklist:

• 1. Innocent Sorrow
• 2. Fre@k $how
• 3. Howling
• 4. Nervous Breakdown
• 5. Nephilim
• 6. Lost Reason
• 7. Blade Chord
• 8. Desert Rose
• 9. Strength.
• 10. Freedom
• 11. Jap
• 12. Valkyrie
• 13. Kimi No Uta

The band has announced their second full length album. It is titled ABINGDON ROAD and is set to be released 1/27/10. The album will contain Blade Chord, Strength, JAP, Kimi no Uta, From Dusk Till Dawn, and Sweetest Coma Again. The album will have 6 new tracks, leaving a total of 12 album tracks.

Discography

Singles

Albums

abingdon boys school

• Release Date: October 17, 2007
• Format: CD
• Top 200 Weekly Peak: #2^[7]
• Total copies sold: 89,796

Teaching Materials (Compilation Album)

• Release Date: October 30, 2009
• Format: CD (Europe Only)
• Top 200 Weekly Peak: TBA
• Total copies sold: TBA

ABINGDON ROAD^[8]

• Release Date: January 27, 2010
• Format: CD+DVD (Japan Only)
• Top 200 Weekly Peak: TBA
• Total copies sold: TBA

Various artist compilations

• Love for Nana -Only 1 Tribute- (March 15, 2005)

"stay away"

• Parade -Respective Tracks of Buck-Tick- (December 21, 2005)

"Dress" (ドレス, Doresu^?)

• Luna Sea Memorial Cover Album (December 19, 2007)

"Sweetest Coma Again"

• Monster Hunter Anniversary Collection (September 30, 2009)

"Valkyrie-Lioleia Mix-"

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• Sony Music Japan page (Japanese)
• Nippon Project interview

References