This is a reissue and the first time it has appeared on vinyl. It also includes a mask designed by Jad Fair which could be useful for upcoming Halloween parties.
'Boo!' captures Half Japanese's 1992 European tour in all its glory and is culled from their shows in Switzerland, Holland and Germany. There seems to have been a resurgence of interest in this band (this happens if you stick around for forty years) so it's nice to finally catch up with them. Having said that, this is a live album and therefore it is a moment in time as opposed to an overview of their milieu.
What you do get is 24 tracks and only one of them ranges past three minutes so 'to the point' is order of the day. They have stated that all their songs are either "love songs or monster songs". What that says about tracks like 'Mule In The Corn' and 'Sex At Your Parent's House' then I really don't know.
This is indie but it's kind of art punk in that it is not really goofing off, merely an attempt to be the best that one can be and that is not relative to another person's ability. I think if you can dig that then you will probably dig this band.
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Clearly many people do and a good time was being had by all on these dates. Actually the songs that stick in my mind are the slow ones. 'One Million Kisses' and 'Silver Katherine' have a floating quality and bizarrely remind me of Neil Young. Kind of country grunge. Other stand out tracks are 'King Kong', 'I'll Change My Style', 'Turn Your Life Around', 'Frankenstein Must Die' (a Frankensteinian track if ever there was one) and 'Fire In The Sky'. I think the idea with this band is to immerse yourself in the material but overall this would be as good a place as any to start.
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