Thee Michelle Gun Elephant「often abbreviated to TMGE」was a Japanese garage rock band of notable popularity in its country of origin. Their music is known for the loud guitars of Abe Futoshi and lead singer Chiba Yusuke's loud, gravelly yet melodious vocals. The other members of the band were drummer Kuhara Kazuyuki and bass player Ueno Koji. They have cited bands such as Johnny Thunders, The Stooges, Iggy Pop, The Damned, The Clash, The Adicts, The Who and Dr. Feelgood as their influences.

乐队历史「History」

The band was formed in 1991, while the band members were students at Tokyo's Meiji Gakuin University. Their unusual name originated from a combination of a former bassist's mispronunciation of the The Damned's album, Machine Gun Etiquette, and the name of Billy Childish's offbeat band Thee Headcoats.

Their first major label release, Wonder Style, was released in 1995, and produced in London, United Kingdom, by Chris Brown, who previously engineered albums and tracks for Radiohead and Pink Floyd. The band was later spotted by The Brian Jonestown Massacre during a gig in Los Angeles. They were so impressed by the band that they told Alive Records owner Patrick Boissel about them, who then sought them out and signed them to his label. This led to the American release of Gear Blues in 2000, an album which had already proved to be their breakthrough album having sold 4 million copies worldwide.

Around 2002, vocalist Chiba Yusuke and Blankey Jet City bassist Terai Toshiyuki formed ROSSO, which is currently active. The band announced that they would break up on October 11, 2003, after their Last Heaven tour of Japan.

专辑目录「Albums」

Maximum! Maximum!! Maximum!!! (1993) Self-released

Cult Grass Stars (1996) Triad

High Time (1996) Triad

Chicken Zombies (1997) Triad

Gear Blues (1998) Triad

Casanova Snake (2000) Triad

Rodeo Tandem Beat Specter (2001) Triad

Sabrina Heaven (2003) Island

Sabrina No Heaven (2003) Island

Live albums

Casanova Said "Live or Die" (2000) Triad

Last Heaven's Bootleg (2003) Island

单曲「Singles」

Sekaino-Owari (1996) Triad

Candy House (1996) Triad

Lily (1996) Triad

Culture (1997) Triad

Get Up Lucy (1997) Triad

The Birdmen (1997) Triad

G.W.D (1998) Triad

Out Blues (1998) Triad

Smokin' Billy (1998) Triad

GT400 (2000) Triad

Baby Stardust (2000) Triad

Abakareta-Sekai (2001) Triad

Taiyou wo Tsukande Shimatta (2002) Island

Girl Friend (2003) Trippin' Elephant

Electric Circus (2003) Island

「B-sides compilations」

Rumble (1999) Triad

「Best of compilations」

TMGE 106 (2000) Triad

Collection (2001) Alive Records (US release)

Grateful Triad Years (2002) Triad

「Other releases」

Wonder Style (1995) Trippin' Elephant

Wonder Style (reissue) (1997) Triad

Vibe On! (1998) Trippin' Elephant

Kwacker (with Mick Green) (2001) Trippin' Elephant