1/2 Japanese – 1/2 Gentlemen / Not Beasts (1980)

August 10, 2023

The only thing I can compare this to is some sort of band on a punk version of the whole Captain Beefheart thing. Like, the original incarnation of Anal Cunt is an extreme evolution of this shit right here. Am I right in thinking that this is so punk that its not punk anymore, in fact it is even barely music? Like someone gave The Cramps far too many horse tranquilizers and a bad tape recorder as the only advance towards their next album.

Honestly, I had a band with my friends when I was 12 that sounded just like this. But, because 1/2 Gentlemen / Not Beasts was terrible on purpose then I suppose there’s a whole new level of artistic integrity that I’m supposed to lap up, especially as a fan of noise, jazz and other seemingly formless, experimental shit? Hrmmm. I don’t know about that. I do hate the Beatles though, and I do like going to the zoo, so perhaps I have more in common with this group than I would like to admit.

(Yes I did listen to the entire thing lol)