Rock 'n' roll has a savior, and its name is Guitar Wolf. This leather-clad trio from Tokyo has been bringing the noise since 1987, channeling an unholy mixture of surf, punk, and garage rock into over-the-top performances that will likely shred your eardrums and steal your girlfriend simultaneously.

Bandleader Seiji describes their live shows as "wolves calling wolves" and recommends vaccinations before attending. Tongue-in-cheek jokes aside, the band's "jet rock 'n' roll" is the definition of furious fun — invigorating and playful, modeled in equal parts on Joan Jett, the Ramones, and Link Wray. And when a band cites Bruce Lee and Elvis as inspirations for their stage presence, what's not to love?

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The band formed in 1987 in the Harajuku district of Tokyo, an area renowned for its quirky fashion and street art, though lead singer Seiji claims he grew up in the countryside. The band's debut LP, Wolf Rock, dropped in 1993.

Japanese audiences didn't know what to make of them at first, but international fans devoured them almost immediately, and they became festival favorites. They gained the most notoriety for their solo tours, including the 1995 Missile Me! tour, the Planet of the Wolves tour in 1997, and the Jet Generation tour in 1999.

The band's uncompromising commitment to their "jet rock 'n' roll" — "explosive music with thundering noise," they say — made for face-melting live shows. In 2000, the trio took their quest for world domination one step further, starring in the horror film Wild Zero, in which they saved the planet from zombies and an alien invasion. Why? "We made the movie to let everyone around the world know who is protecting the Earth," they said. In 2016, the band thrilled audiences with the blistering T-Rex From a Tiny Space Yojouhan tour, in which the band donned dinosaur heads for part of the show.

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