Asobi Seksu was an American shoegaze/dream pop band based in New York City. Their music used a textured and effects-heavy vocal and guitar sound. The band primarily consisted of Yuki Chikudate (vocals, keyboards) and James Hanna (guitar, vocals). History Forming in 2001, the band was originally known as Sportfuck, and issued an EP under that name that year. The band then changed their name to Asobi Seksu, from the Japanese 遊びセックス (asobi sekkusu), "play sex". The original lineup consisted of Chikudate, Hanna, drummer Keith Hopkin and bassist Glenn Waldman. Hanna and Hopkin, with bassist Haji, had previously been members of the New York City space rock trios Three Cornered Season and Theta Wave State. Asobi Seksu's full-length self-titled debut album was self-released in 2002, and later re-released on the Friendly Fire Recordings label on May 18, 2004. Hopkin and Waldman left after touring for the album. Regrouping with a new rhythm section of Haji (bass) and Bryan Greene (drums), they recorded their second album, Citrus, in New York City's Gigantic Studios with producer Chris Zane. It was released on May 30, 2006 by Friendly Fire Recordings. By the time the band recorded their first live album, Spaceland Presents: At the Echo October 6th, 2006, Greene had been replaced by Mitch Spivak. The album was issued on October 31, 2006 by Spaceland Recordings. and reissued in 2007 by KUFALA Recordings. One Little Indian Records signed the band in Europe and re-released the band's first two albums in 2007, with Citrus reaching No. 21 on the UK Indie Chart that year. On November 20, 2007, Asobi Seksu released "Stay Awake" as a stand-alone single on the Gigantic Music label, backed by a cover of "Then He Kissed Me" by the Crystals. Another cover, of the Ramones' "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)", was released by One Little Indian as a single on December 10, 2007. Following the departures of Haji and Spivak, Chikudate and Hanna remained as Asobi Seksu's core, with the live band including drummer Ben Shapiro (later of Scary Mansion) and bassist Billy Pavone. The band released another live album, Acoustic at Olympic Studios, on February 8, 2009 as a tour-exclusive CD. Recorded as a duo in November 2008, it featured new acoustic versions of the band's back catalog as well as unique tracks. Retitled as Rewolf, it was released worldwide in November 2009. On February 17, 2009,