Pitchfork

As Japan's premiere noise-making trio, Boris have certainly wrecked a few ears in their day. But never quite like this.

Denton, Texas resident Josh Baish journeyed all the way to Marfa to catch Boris play at that city's Ballroom venue on October 18, 2007. During the performance he was assaulted by four men, who broke one of his ribs and managed to bite off a chunk of one of his ears.

It doesn't get much shittier than that, but then, it doesn't get much cooler than this either: while loading out after the gig, Boris found the missing piece of Baish's ear and returned it to him in the hopes it might be reattached. That's Baish with Boris vocalist/double-neck guitarist/bassist Takeshi-- and Baish's ear chunk on ice-- pictured above.

And then Boris wrote a song about it.

Baish received a "Statement/Floorshaker" 7" in the mail earlier this year, and upon hearing the first few lines of B-side "Floorshaker"-- "I found a ripped ear on the floor/ This must be yours"-- he couldn't help but Smile. And while it turned out surgeons couldn't reattach the ear piece, Baish went ahead and enshrined it behind the bar at the venue he owns in Denton, Rubber Gloves. Have a look:



As Baish summed up in an email to Pitchfork, "So basically, I lost my ear and broke a rib at a concert from my favorite band, and they wrote a song about it. I'd say it was worth it."

We sure hope Baish can properly hear Boris' latest, Smile, which hits U.S. shops April 29 and UK/European ones April 21 via Southern Lord. For a refresher on all the different formats/tracklists/covers, go here and here.

And should you happen to lose a body part somewhere in Europe over the coming weeks, or at the Pitchfork Music Festival this summer, well, Boris might just be there to find it for you.

Boris:

04-19 Tilburg, Netherlands - Roadburn Festival
04-20 Bristol, England - The Cooler *
04-21 Manchester, England - The Ruby Lounge *
04-22 Birmingham, England - The Medicine Bar *
04-23 London, England - ULU *
04-24 Njimegen, Netherlands - Doornroosje *
04-25 Bielefield, Germany - AJZ *
04-26 Copenhagen, Denmark - Loppen *
04-27 Aarhus, Denmark - Voxhall *
04-28 Gothenburg, Sweden - Sticky Fingers *
04-29 Oslo, Norway - John Dee *
04-30 Stockholm, Sweden - Kagelbanan Sodra Teatrn *
05-02 Helsinki, Finland - Tavastia *
05-03 Turku, Finland - Klubi
05-06 Leipzig, Germany - UT Connewitz *
05-07 Berlin, Germany - Magnet Club *
05-08 Wroclaw, Poland - Firlej *
05-09 Prague, Czech Republic - Palace Akropolis *
05-10 Budapest, Hungary - A38 ^
05-11 Vienna, Austria - Szene *
05-12 Munich, Germany - Feiewerk *
05-13 Innsburck, Austria - PMK *
05-14 Milan, Italy - Garage *
05-15 Rome, Italy - Circolo Degli Artisti Club *
05-16 Ravenna, Italy - Bronson *
05-18 Winterthur, Switzerland - Salzhaus *
05-19 Stuttgart, Germany - Club Schocken *
05-20 Brussels, Belgium - Ancienne Belgique *
05-21 Paris, France - Nouveau Casino *
05-22 Nantes, France - Olympic *
05-23 Poitiers, France - Le Confort Moderne *
05-24 Toulouse, France - Vents du Sud *
05-26 Porto, Portugal - Porto Rio *
05-27 Lisbon, Portugal - Zedobois *
05-29 Barcelona, Spain - Parc del Fòrum (Primavera Sound)
05-30 Clermont, France - La Cooperative de Mai *
05-31 Dudingen, Switzerland - Kilbi Festival
07-20 Chicago, IL - Union Park (Pitchfork Music Festival) !

* with Growing
^ with Shellac
! with Dinosaur Jr., Spiritualized, M. Ward, Ghostface and Raekwon, the Apples in Stereo, Dirty Projectors, Cut Copy, Extra Golden, El Guincho, Fuck Buttons