Why Not?, by Half Japanese

Why Not?

by Half Japanese

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MORE LIGHT, AND THE GLOOM OF THAT LIGHT; MORE GLOOM, AND THE LIGHT OF THAT GLOOM thumbnail

Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
White 12" vinyl LP, download card included.

Includes unlimited streaming of Why Not? via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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Purchasable with gift card

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Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
12" vinyl LP, download card included.

Includes unlimited streaming of Why Not? via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 3 days

Purchasable with gift card

£16 GBP or more
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

Includes unlimited streaming of Why Not? via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 3 days

Purchasable with gift card

£12 GBP or more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Includes unlimited streaming of Why Not? via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 3 days

edition of 3 2 remaining

Purchasable with gift card

£20 GBP or more
Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

£7 GBP or more
Half Japanese - Why Not - Limited Edition Merch Bundle
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
This limited edition bundle includes a 'Why Not' 12" white vinyl LP, badge, key ring bottle opener, sticker, tote bag, temporary tattoo sheet and t-shirt.

Includes unlimited streaming of Why Not? via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.	The Future Is Ours 02:05	buy track
2.	The Face 03:38	buy track
3.	Why Not? 03:06	buy track
4.	Amazing 04:01	buy track
5.	Demons Of Doom 02:20	buy track
6.	A Word To The Wise 03:15	buy track
7.	Bring On The Night 02:03	buy track
8.	Zombie Island Massacre 03:24	buy track
9.	Better Days 03:54	buy track
10.	Spaceship To Mars 03:53	buy track
11.	Why'd They Do It? 03:24	buy track
12.	Magic 01:34	buy track
13.	Falling 02:31	buy track

about

Half Japanese have returned to peel further layers from their onion. They have a new album that's a square further on in their unpredictable musical snakes and ladders board. ‘Why Not?’ is a magical thing – it’s Springsteen’s ‘Born To Run’ recorded in a cupboard, it’s an ode to love, it’s a Wire song with two duelling guitarists being Zappa on helium, it’s Parquet Courts in a tantrum, it’s The Crickets contorted into ? and The Mysterians, it’s everywhere and nowhere, baby, it’s where it’s at.

On ‘Why Not?’ nuances are mused, situations explained, questions asked. Outside, zombies and demons roam and everyday aliens emerge from spaceships: it’s a technicolor film transcribed by Jad Fair and friends John Sluggett, Gilles-Vincent Rieder, Mick Hobbs and Jason Willett, their faces at the cracked window of their subterranean habitat looking out at the real world.

They’re on a high from their last release:

“After all these years, his wiry voice still hits every song with a shock that’s equal parts joy buzzer and defibrillator, each barely in-key bleat alternating between laughable and life-affirming,” said Pitchfork of their last opus ‘Hear The Lion Roar’.

To which All Music added that “after nearly 40 years of music-making, they're still creating some of the most engaging recordings of their lives, and that's truly something to believe in.”

‘Why Not?’ goes further. It’s an even more intense concoction, it’s further out there. It contains pieces of fluffy thought-provoking music, a bag of sentiments delivered with a real sense of wonderment at how the normal world revolves; all powered with heart and soul, some crunchy guitars, a cello and reverb set-to-kill infiltrating their storytelling.

‘Why’d They Do It?’ quizzes track 11. Because they can.

credits

released January 19, 2018

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Half Japanese Uniontown, Pennsylvania

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