Audio Active are Japan's most controversial band and also it's bravest. With each new album release they flip the bird in the face of the authorities. It's like they're asking for a showdown.
So what are they doing wrong? Nothing musically. Their new album, "Back to the Stoned Age," is arguably their best recording to date. The problem is with their philosophy. These guys love ganja, and they don't hide the fact. Instead they literally make a song and dance of it.
Their album covers are plastered with marijuana iconography ("Stoned Age" has a joint-shaped spaceship burning at one end) and their lyrics are almost entirely taken up with ruminations on the illegal herb ("Roll it/smoke it/pass it/and meditate," from the track "Universal Joint.") And this in a country where possession of half a joint can land you a prison term.