Japanese rock band
Quruli (Japanese: くるり, Hepburn: Kururi) is a Japanese rock band formed in Kyoto in 1996. It has been a duo consisting of original members Shigeru Kishida and Masashi Sato since March 2021. They have been signed to Speedstar Records since 1998. In 2003, Quruli were ranked number 74 on a list of the top 100 Japanese pop acts by HMV Japan.[2]
Career
After meeting at "Rock Commune," Ritsumeikan University's music club, Shigeru Kishida, Masashi Satō, and Nobuyuki Mori formed the original three-piece band. The name "Quruli," an onomatopoeic word expressing rotation, was taken from a sign in the Kyoto Municipal Subway. In October 1998, Quruli released the single 東京 ("Tokyo") on Victor Entertainment's Speedstar Records. They released their first major label album, さよならストレンジャー ("Goodbye Stranger") in 1999.[3][4]
Quruli released the albums 図鑑 ("Picture Book") in 2000, produced by Jim O'Rourke, and Team Rock in 2001. According to music critic Ian Martin, Picture Book remains one of the most frequently cited influences for Japanese alt-rock bands.[5] During the production of the 2001 film The World is Mine, Quruli added guitarist Tasshin Ōmura to its lineup. In 2002, Mori left the band.[3][4]
In 2003, after a trip to England, Quruli returned with a single, How to Go, and created the soundtrack for ジョゼと虎と魚たち ("Josee, the Tiger and the Fish"). After working with a number of session drummers, Quruli officially added drummer Christopher McGuire to their lineup in November 2003. In 2004 Quruli released the album アンテナ ("Antenna"). After the tour for the album was completed, McGuire left the group.
2005 saw the release of several Quruli singles along with a new album, Nikki, released in December of that year. At the last day of 2006, Tasshin Ōmura left the band. In 2007 Quruli released a new album, ワルツを踊れ Tanz Walzer ("Dancing the Waltz"), recorded in Vienna with the Ambassade Orchester Wien. They joined forces again in 2008 to put out the live album Philharmonic or die.[3][4]
Quruli first appeared on television performing 青い空 ("Blue Sky") on NHK. On September 9, 2005, Quruli appeared on the popular "Music Station" program and performed their song, 赤い電車 ("Red Train"). The song was also featured as the theme song to a Keikyu commercial.[3]
On May 26, 2010, Quruli released the B-side compilation 僕の住んでいた街 ("The Town I Used to Live"), which also included their new song 東京レレレのレ ("Tokyo Le-Le-Le No Le"). The album reached No. 1 on the Oricon weekly album charts, becoming their first No. 1 album on the charts.[6]
On September 8, 2010, Quruli released their album 言葉にならない、笑顔を見せてくれよ ("Show Me Your Indescribable Smile, Please"), including the singles シャツを洗えば ("When I Wash My Shirts") (with Matsutoya Yumi) and 魔法のじゅうたん ("Magical Carpet"). Their songs continued to be used in TIOVITA drink commercials, starting with Jubilee, followed by 太陽のブルース ("The Blues of the Sun"), シャツを洗えば ("When I Wash My Shirts"), 魔法のじゅうたん ("Magical Carpet"), until loveless in 2014. In 2014, those songs were compiled into くるりとチオビタ ("Quruli with TIOVITA").
Quruli released the 10th album 坩堝の電圧 ("Voltage of Melting Pot") in 2012, the 11th album THE PIER in 2014, and the 12th album ソングライン ("Songline") in 2018.
In 2020, Quruli released their 20th album, ”thaw".
After releasing "Love Genius" in April 2021, Quruli entered a new phase in their career, culminating in 4 back-to-back singles in the late summer/early autumn of 2022, and reforming the original trio of Kishida, Sato and Mori in the summer of 2023. In October of that year, a trio album "Driven by Impulse" came out to great acclaim, and a documentary "Quruli Film" was shown in movies nationwide.
