Half Japanese has announced a new LP, Perfect, to be released January 22 via Joyful Noise Recordings. A collection of songs that feature otherworldly sounds, chaotic rhythms, and weird time signatures — topped off with Jad Fair’s brash vocals and oddball lyrics — it’s currently available for pre-order, with 500 VIP copies available on baby blue & clear vinyl with cyan splatter. The VIP edition also comes with an exclusive art print signed by Jad.
For a first taste of the new album, you can hear lead single “That Is That” — set to a backdrop of visuals created by Jad — via YouTube.

Half Japanese is one of the most influential bands in rock history, having influenced everyone from Sonic Youth and Neutral Milk Hotel to Daniel Johnston and Kurt Cobain (who asked the band to open some of the dates on Nirvana’s In Utero tour.) Known for dismissing conventional music basics like melody, song structure and chords (and for Jad’s famous line “the only chord I know is the one that connects the guitar to the amp”), Half Japanese operated under the premise that rock music should be accessible to anyone who wanted to play.
Having released over two dozen EPs, LPs, and live albums between 1977 and 2001, the band returned in 2014 with Overjoyed, their first studio album in thirteen years and their debut release for Joyful Noise. That was followed by surprise EP Bingo Ringo in July 2015. Perfect’s tracks run the gamut from sweet love songs with overtly sincere lyrics to manic, almost abrasive tracks that seem to end before you can fully wrap your head around them. Once again, Half Japanese manages to combine elements of every genre imaginable into one strange, unpredictable, and undeniably-catchy package.
Half Japanese European Dates:
11/21: Brest, France @ Festival Invisible
11/24: Madrid, Spain @ El Sol
11/25: Hamburg, Germany @ Monkeys Club
11/26: Oberhausen, Germany @ Druckluft
11/27: Antwerp, Belgium @ Het Bos
11/28: Boulogne-Billancourt, France @ BB Mix Festival