Album Review: Hear the Lions Roar by Half Japanese

Half Japanese albums are like the proverbial buses, and this is their third album in as many years, after nothing for the previous decade-plus. Jad Fair’s art-punk outsider unit return with an album that reflects their early days while taking the Half Japanese story into a new chapter. Attack Of The Giant Leeches echoes those bedroom recordings of the 70s, all horror movies, girls and classic pop turned on its head.

Full Review >>

Once upon a time, Jad Fair was obsessed with women and horror movies. However, that's all changed in the 21st century -- these days, Fair is obsessed with positive thinking and horror movies, while he's also reasonably interested in women. Fair has been on an unexpected hot streak in the 2010s, delivering a handful of unusually strong albums as a solo act, in collaboration with others (including Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub and his brother David Fair), and with his long-running band Half Japanese.

Full Review >>

For over four decades now, Half Japanese have been one of indie rock’s most reliable sources of positivity. Jad and David Fair started the band in the mid ’70s as a giddy experiment in the limits of guitar pop songwriting. They didn’t tune their instruments properly and they chose not to play chords, embracing the infinite possibilities that the electric guitar can offer if you approach it without regard for the patterns and scales most players find themselves locked into.

Full Review >>