Straightener may not really seem like a group, but sort of an overall in-house project of the Japanese rock scene, having ties with a huge number of important rock bands of the country. Hinata Hidekazu, the bassist who joined in 2003, played in one of the better Japanese U2 followers, Art-School, and worked with the quirky Zazen Boys until 2007; drummer Shinpei Nakayama has a side project, the Predators, with the vocalist of the Pillows and bassist of Glay; lead singer and guitarist Horie Atsushi, together with Hinata, has a parallel band, Fullarmor, active since 2002; and tha...