Half Japanese

Half Japanese is an American art punk band formed by brothers Jad and David Fair in 1974, after their family's relocation to Uniontown, Maryland. The brothers' original instrumentation included a small drum set, which they took turns playing; vocals; and an out-of-tune, distorted guitar. Both Fair brothers sang, although over time Jad held the frontman role. As of the band's last several releases since the 1990s, according to the album and CD credits, Half Japanese composes and plays the entirety of the music while Fair, eschewing his role as guitarist from earlier albums, plays almost no guitar but is responsible for the vocals and lyrics, which typically divide into either "love songs or monster songs." The band, still a vital art-punk unit, has released six albums since 2014 with the same personnel that recorded Hot in 1993. Three recent releases—Why Not?, Invincible and Crazy Hearts—received four-star reviews from the U.K. magazine Record Collector, while The New Yorker also praised the 2021 release Crazy Hearts. The band members are John Sluggett (guitar), Gilles-Vincent Rieder (drums), Jason Willett (bass), Mick Hobbs (guitar), and Jad Fair (vocals and guitar).