Review Summary: One sixth Japanese
Half Japanese. At this point in their career saying their name should be enough for you to recognise just what level of quality hides within. Minimal. This has been a long time coming, but I think it is safe to say that Half Japanese is not a good band. The good-to-bad ratio is now so overwhelming that any quality they displayed in the past has been wiped clean.
And now with
Why Not the band doesn’t even seem to try to write full songs (let alone decent ones). Yes, throughout this entire album it seems like either one of the key components on each song just gives up for a cut. One song is well played and the production sits well, but the melody is just forgettable (“The Future is Ours”). Other times everything is actually decent, the tune is fine and the instrumental intensity grows on you, but the vocals just seem like Jad Fair is just doing this for the pay check (“Why Not”).
As unfortunate as it is, I don’t believe it is possible to actually expect anything approaching goodness from Half Japanese anymore. This quasi-laid-back style they chose is not working out and hasn’t been working out since the eighties. But Jad Fair insists on keeping it afloat, even though he is slowly, but surely, losing grip on what makes that style worthwhile.
So in the end I believe that the biggest problem not just this album has, but the entire Half Japanese discography, is Jad Fair’s either apathetic, or careless approach to song-writing and compositional work. The musicians enlisted on here actually seem to care, as many songs display actually intriguing instrumental palette and pretty engaging play on musical intensity, but Jad’s melodywork, lazy lyrics and, above all, his dumbing down vocals; bring whatever potential enthusiasm-evoking material there could have been. Thus in the end you have the album’s highlights being only the songs that feature the least of Jad (hello, “A Word to the Wise”, “Zombie Island Massacre” and “Spaceship to Mars”).
