Guniw Tools were a Japanese alternative rock band of the 1990s that dwelled on the outskirts of the blooming visual kei genre, pushing the envelope too far in their own surrealistic dreamscape visuals and sticking to a Westernized sound rather than following the local pack led by Luna Sea -- they mixed Pixies' angular riffs with pop-punk sensibilities, textures of My Bloody Valentine, and whatever else they happened to think of at the moment. The band enjoyed moderate success and accumulated a loyal fan base, but in 2000, they took a hiatus that turned out to be permanent. Guniw Tools was started in 1989 by Full (Tomo Furukawa), who was interested in combining his artwork with music. By 1992, Jake joined the project as a bassist, taking over guitar duties as well after a while, with Full assuming the post of the vocalist. Asaki joined in 1994, first as a support guitarist and then as a full-time bandmember in charge of guitars and programming. Guniw Tools also sported an extensive list of support players featuring musicians as well as dancers. The band began playing live shows and soon scored a gig with Victor Entertainment, but the first album, Niwlun, didn't arrive until 1996, when Guniw Tools also documented their visuals on a VHS release and scored a minor TV award for their videos. The debut charted at number 76, but its follow-up, Other Goose, scrambled into the Top 40 -- the band's only record to do so. The group had an EP out in 1997 as well, but after its release, Jake bailed out due to creative differences, resurfacing later in Super Soul Sonics and Cloudchair. Guniw Tools were left to continue as a duo, which they did for several years, releasing two more studio albums. They slowed down in 2000, when they put out a best-of and announced a two-year break, during which the members of the duo were to concentrate on side projects. Those included Bug and Age of Punk for Asaki and Nookicky, and Shilfee and Tulipcorobockles for Full. ~ Alexey Eremenko