Apparently motorcycle gangs don’t have to be annoying.
Reebok in Japan has released an interesting video showing that if used in the right way the sound of a revving motorcycle engine can sound pretty good alongside Japanese drums.
Released on Thursday (Jul. 27) by Reebok in order to promote the 2017 model of its Zoku Runner shoe this new video is an epic musical performance that features the sounds of Japanese drums (wadaiko), revving motorcycle engines and electronic keyboards. As you’ll hear in the video below, the unique combination of these sounds proves for a pretty epic listening experience that seems like something straight out of the soundtrack for the classic anime film Akira.
Check it out below.
The idea for the peculiar fusion of sounds that you hear in the video comes from the name of the shoe this video is intended to promote, the Zoku Runner. The word zoku (族), which on its own means “tribe” in Japanese, is part of the term used to describe a type of Japanese motorcycle gang. Called bosozoku (暴走族), these gangs are known for many things, including getting into fights with rival gangs, their unique fashion, their use of a high-pitched horn with a very recognizable melody and their tendency to ride around revving their engines just to make noise. That horn melody is what the high-pitched keyboard melody heard in the video is based on and of course, the engine sounds are inspired by the noisy nature of the bosozoku.
The song used in the video was produced by the four person Japanese band DATS. The members of the band can also be seen performing the song in the video. Also making appearances in the video are popular young actor Taishi Nakagawa and model/actress Risa Oda.
Even if this video doesn’t do particularly well it seems almost inevitable that Reebok will want to release a sequel video. Why? Because the Japanese word for sequel is zoku–hen and Japan loves bad puns.
Source: Grape Japan
Image: Reebok CLASSIC 「ZOKU THE MOVIE」 (Reebok Japan Official YouTube)
