The Needle Drop

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Half Japanese - "In Its Pull"

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https://soundcloud.com/joyful-noise-recordings/half-japanese-in-its-pull So much hype surrounding Half Japanese's upcoming record Overjoyed - it's their first full-length thing in 13 freaking years! It's not so hard to see why all the excitement: the band's DIY sound was groundbreaking throughout the 70s, 80s, and 90s and was influential to countless notable alt/indie rock artists, including Kurt Cobain and Daniel Johnston.

Now it's 2014, and with lo-fi music so readily accessible with the web, I can't really imagine this new single "In Its Pull" being mind-blowing for most listeners. That being said, Jad Fair still knows how to write the hell out of a song, so this is a pretty killer track all the same. It sounds in-the-moment like the group's best work and I dig the raw production Deerhoof's John Dieterich brings to the table. Thankfully, it looks as though Overjoyed will be a plenty enjoyable comeback that will be just offbeat enough. We know too well that sometimes even that is too much to ask for...

Overjoyed is due out September 2 via Joyful Noise Recordings.