54-71 was formed in 1995. With its self-released debut album, "54-71" (1997), three-way split album with Deerhoof and Ox Bow, and eps, which were distributed free of charge, the band has gained a steadily growing following. In 2000, "54-71" was re-released by the Lee V Cleef label and the album "Untitled" was released by Compozila. After Lastrum released the album "reprise" in 2001, the band made its major label debut with its BMG Japan release, "en Clorox," which was recorded at Steve Albini's (Shellac) "Electrical Audio" studio and engineered by Bob Weston, also of Shellac. In 2003, 54-71 released "true men of non-doing," its second major label release, which was also engineered by Weston and recorded at John McEntire's (Tortoise) "SOMA" studio.

54-71 received overwhelming critical acclaim and support from fans while touring with friends Deerhoof and Pele in the U.S. In 2004, 54-71 released a "best of" album of all newly recorded songs entitled "All Songs Composed & Performed by 54-71" through the some of us label. Following this release, guitarist Noriaki Takada left the group. With Bingo Sato playing keyboard, the band started anew as an instrumental band, releasing an untitled single through some of us and a split EP with Nine Days Wonder.

In 2007, 54-71 began playing again as a four-piece band when its current guitarist, Takuya Takada joined the band. In 2008 54-71 established "contrarede," a label focused primarily on the band's own output, and released "I'm not fine, thank you. And you?"

While 54-71's sound betrays influences from various musical genres ranging from hip-hop, jazz, rock, soul, and funk to avant-garde, minimalist, and free music, it is far more than the simple sum of these parts. 54-71's authentically alternative sound comes from the "music" and "presence" that exists prior to generic categorizations.