In 1974 Jad Fair, along with his brother David, co-founded the lo-fi alternative rock group Half Japanese. Over the ensuing three decades, Half Japanese released fourteen albums (which are all due to be reissued on Fire Records throughout 2013), and in the process, attracted a solid base of fans passionate about the band's pure, unbridled enthusiasm for rock and roll.

Fire's reissue series begins with Half Japanese's first album Half Gentlemen/Not Beasts, a collection of the Fair brothers earliest home recordings, originally released as a homemade three LP box set. These stretch their DIY, lo-fi ethos to the limits featuring sound experiments cobbled together from guitar noise, electronics and odd effects, whilst throwing in some barely recognizable covers (such as tracks by The Temptations, Buddy Holly and Bob Dylan).

Over the years Half Gentlemen/Not Beasts became something of a cult legend, partly helped by it's scarcity and foreshadowed much of the lo-fi movement of early 90s indie rock.
In 1995, Rolling Stone magazine chose the Half Japanese album "Half Gentlemen / Not Beasts" as one of the top 100 most influential Alternative albums and Spin Magazine's Alternative Record Guide states; "Half Japanese assumed it was the greatest Rock and Roll band on the planet. It was often right."

Fire's reissue will feature new packaging, artwork, liner notes and design by Jad and David Fair as well as never released extra tracks. The CD package will include three discs and there will be four LPs in the vinyl version. This rare and much sought after treasure will now be available for all to enjoy and for fans to relish.


"This primitive proto-punk outfit, led by brothers Jad and David Fair, had a near-autistic flair for rough-and-ready lo-fi skits… Here their debut is reborn with new artwork and sleevenotes from the Fair brothers, boosted by unreleased rarities - 4*"
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