- Record Label: Fire Records
- Release Date: Jan 27, 2015
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Feb 19, 2015These are some of the sweetest and sauciest love songs ever recorded, and no one should have any doubt that he means every word of them. This set should also lay to rest any questions about the importance of Half Japanese.
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MagnetFeb 19, 2015Capturing the band at its creative zenith, the three albums on Volume 2--Music To Strip By, Charmed Life and The Band That Would Be King--are hip-shaking, chin-scratching things of beauty rife with bent-grooves and wacked-out, sexed-up story songs that fall somewhere between Jonathan Richman and the Residents. [No. 117, p.53]
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Feb 19, 2015For longtime fans, Volume Two: 1987-1989 is an impressive and well-assembled study of one of this band's more interesting periods, and if you're looking for a way into Half Japanese's catalog, this a good place to start despite the heft of this collection.
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Feb 19, 2015It’s clear that Half Japanese are strongest when straying from tradition and just indulging in brutal chaos. It’s not how rock music is remembered today, of course, but through albums like these, Half Japanese gave us another way to look at and enjoy the genre.
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Mar 2, 2015Although Volume 2: 1987-1989 may have its fair share of misfires, its overall hit-rate is remarkably high for an exhaustive anthology drawn from the ‘80s DIY netherworld. Whilst it’s hard to say if it fully represents the best of the Half Japanese oeuvre, it’s certainly an unquestionable strong entry-point into the band’s uncompromising catalogue of charming invention.
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Mar 2, 2015By showing so much of themselves in all their imperfect glory they clearly don't give two hoots what anyone else thinks. Love and monsters is all well and good, but self-indulgence and punk spirit is the true and unlikely dichotomy at the ever breaking heart of Half Japanese.