FOR A REASON has been a band since 2002 and has made three albums. That works out at one every seven years or so. Nobody could accuse it of rushing.
The Three
The band formed in Tokyo in August 2002. It is a three-piece, and all three sing: Kengo Kawamura on bass and lead vocals, Takuma Hoshino on guitar and vocals, and Tomonori Hokura on drums and vocals.
The style is emotional melodic hardcore. The band has named its sources: the Japanese melodic punk bands of an earlier generation, and from overseas, groups such as Lifetime and Useless ID. That places it in the fast, tuneful, heart-on-sleeve corner of punk.
The Records
The first release was a six-song mini-album, THE ELAPSE OF OUR LIFE, in April 2005. The band put it out on its own label, SUBMARINE RECORD.
The first full album, Maps and Mazes, followed in 2009. It is the record on which the band is said to have joined the melodic and hardcore sides of its sound completely.
Six years later, on 4 November 2015, came the self-titled second album, FOR A REASON. Its guests included a member of Crystal Lake, a sign of how far across the heavy scene the band’s friendships run.
A third album arrived six years after that.
The New Song
On 6 December 2024 the band released “Growing Up,” its first new song in three years.
It is a good title for a band in its third decade. The members were young when they started, and the music they play is usually thought of as young people’s music. Writing a song called “Growing Up” twenty-two years in is either a joke at their own expense or an honest report, and probably both.
The band is associated with the label CAFFEINE BOMB, which is also home to SHADOWS.
Why It Matters
Melodic hardcore bands tend to burn fast. This one has gone slowly and lasted.
Start with Maps and Mazes, then “Growing Up.”
