A Thirty Plus Year Sci-Fi Trip

Since their first studio album in 1980, art punk band Half Japanese has been in the business of making sci-fi monster music. On their newest release, Hear the Lion’s Roar, they continue on their journey with the supernatural and drench their tales in frenetic drums and discordant guitar riffs.

Half Japanese was the brainchild of brothers David and Jad Fair. They began recording and performing as a duo, but by the 1980s had transformed. The Velvet Underground-esque vocals and unedited sound proved popular among musicians like Kurt Cobain and Jeff Mangum from Neutral Milk Hotel. There strange lyrics and often-distorted instrumentation is their fortune, and on this newest album, the listener hears as they plunge back into the richness of the lyrics and experimental nature of the music.

The album opens with Jad’s signature untuned guitar on the song “Wherever We Are Lead.” It is two minutes of fifty seconds of sound complimented by Jad’s half sung/half spoken vocals. Lyrics like, “Bloodthirsty giant leeches are thirsty, thirsty for blood” on “Attack of the Giant Leeches” signal to the listener that he or she has departed reality and entered into the realm of Half Japanese. Other songs like “It Never Stops” and “On the Right Track” are less experimental and have quieter beginnings. While other songs are not as subtle, like “The Preventers” where Jad sings about “zombies and hippies” as a guitar gently strums before the song explodes into sound. Most of the songs come across as playful and imaginative, but there is a subtle hint of veracity and introversion to this band that is masqueraded as giant leeches and violent monsters.

The historical significance that Half Japanese has had on the music world is widespread. Whether they helped structure the sound of Butthole Surfers or championed for weird, sci-fi driven lyrics, there is no doubt that they have left their mark on the music world. With Hear the Lion’s Roar, they continue to carve their way into the hearts and minds of musicians and music lovers and leave the listener’s ears filled with bizarre imagery and raspy guitars.