LλQUE - Macherie (2007)

"Dynamite", 2007.


LλQUE formed in 1998. By the end of 1999, before the group released any material, everyone besides frontman Kouichi left, and he would then create a new lineup by the new millennium. In January of 2000, LλQUE released its first demo, which was self-titled, and later released their first mini-album, which was also self-titled, in 2001, which was only available through mail-order. In late 2001, LλQUE released their second demo, "Passion", although in early 2002, bassist Hi-key left. This put LλQUE on a hiatus for most of the year, although that fall, Hi-key would be replaced by Kemono, and the group then fully resumed activities. Shortly after he joined, however, guitarist Hiro left and he was soon replaced by T.T, and in 2003, the group released its second mini-album, which was self-titled and was live-distributed only. Despite their attempts, however, LλQUE struggled to establish much if any of a following in the visual underground although the group pushed onward and released their third mini-album in 2004, which was also self-titled and was also only available at their lives and through their website. The album would have significantly stronger sales than their previously released material, although despite that, LλQUE would not release any more material for the next few years, instead focusing on touring and would have departed completely from the visual scene by 2006, becoming a non-visual act instead. In January of 2007, LλQUE returned with the release of their very first single "Dynamite", which would also be their first widely available release. The single would have surprisingly strong sales in the underground music scene, and in May of 2007, the group released its second single "Te Quiero", which, while not having necessarily the same sales as "Dynamite", would still sell well in the underground music scene. Although the band were active for almost a decade at this point, the group were arguably far more popular by the summer of 2007 than they ever were. Despite their boost in popularity, however, LλQUE would end up abruptly disbanding by the end of 2007 with little warning. The only member of the group who appeared to have remained active in the underground music scene was Kemono who would return to the visual scene for the first time in several years when he joined the indies group Sweet Madonna, although he eventually left in the summer of 2012 and instead became a part of the backing band for the cult underground idol group Zombie Lolita (ゾンビロリータ) under the alias of Wantarou (わんたろう). In 2017, Wantarou again returned to the visual underground when he formed the group Cinderella Castle (シンデレラキャッスル), and he remains active in both Zombie Lolita and Cinderella Castle today.