10 Killer Rock Music Bands With No Guitarist
6. Ruins
Like most progressive acts, Ruins were way ahead of their time. Led by multi-hyphenate drummer-percussionist-vocalist Tatsuya Yoshida, the Japanese two-piece formed in 1985 and took nearly half a decade to begin putting out an almost unclassifiable type of rock music, but when they did they unleashed a slew of 20+-track albums and lyrics both written and sung in a made-up language.
Originally conceived of as a power trio, the group's guitarist didn't show up to Ruins' very first practice session and so the accidental duo didn't let this hold them back. Despite cycling through various second members across their initial two-decade run, Tatsuya always provided the song-writing backbone and sonic consistency necessary to sculpt a long yet habitually covert career - seriously, ask anyone but your most hipster mates if they've heard Ruins - using just voice, drums and heavily distorted five and six-string basses.
Whether they're prog, math, noise rock, or none of the above, all we know is their 1995 album Hyderomastgroningem was voted 49th on the Rolling Stone's list of the 50 greatest progressive rock albums of all time - and to some people that still means something, man!