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Charmed Life (Half Japanese album)

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1988 album by Half Japanese
Charmed Life
Studio album by Half Japanese
Released1988
GenreIndie rock, lo-fi, twee pop
Length51:18
Label50 Skidillion Watts
Half Japanese chronology
Music to Strip By
(1987) 		Charmed Life
(1988) 		The Band That Would Be King
(1989)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
Robert ChristgauB+
Pitchfork8.9/10
Spin Alternative Record Guide9/10

Charmed Life is an album by the punk rock group Half Japanese, released in 1988. It is their second studio album released on their label, 50 Skidillion Watts.

The eighth song, "Bright Lights, Big City," was originally sung and recorded by the American blues musician Jimmy Reed, in 1961.

Critical reception

The Quietus wrote: "Less whiny and needy than Music To Strip By, the lyrics are spouted from a lip with more curl and less pucker ... as accessible as Half Japanese get." Trouser Press called the album "a guileless burst of optimism that mutes the shriller frequencies considerably, replacing them with an unaffected, exuberant guitar/harmonica backdrop played by a band."

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Said and Done"2:53
2."Penny in the Fountain"1:58
3."Evidence"2:04
4."Vietnam"2:00
5."Roman Candles"2:22
6."Love at First Sight"2:43
7."Snake Line"2:08
8."Bright Lights, Big City"2:10
9."Face Rake"0:59
10."Later in a Magazine"1:28
11."Red Dress"2:16
12."Charmed Life"1:47
13."Day and Night"2:53
14."1,000,000,000,000 Kisses"1:55
15."Terminator"1:58
16."I'll Change My Style"2:18
17."Charmed Life"1:59
18."Trouble in the Water"3:00
19."Miracles Happen Every Day"2:20
20."Fortunate"2:05
21."Poetic License"2:08
Bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
22."Day and Night"3:51
23."1,000,000 Kisses"2:06
24."Madonna Nude"1:35
25."I'll Change My Style"2:35
26."George Steele"1:57
27."Real Cool Time"8:54
28."How Many More Years"2:13
29."King Kong Bundy"1:53
30."Something New in the Ring"1:15
31."Terminator"1:56

Personnel

  • Jad Fair - guitar, harmonica, vocals
  • David Fair - guitar, harmonica, vocals
  • Don Fleming - guitar, vocals
  • John Dreyfuss - organ, saxophone
  • Rick Dreyfuss - composer
  • Mark Jickling - bass guitar, guitar
  • John Moremen - guitar
  • Jay Spiegel - drums
  • Don Zientara - engineer, mixing

References

  1. "Strange but True". www.austinchronicle.com.
  2. "Charmed Life - Half Japanese | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  3. "Robert Christgau: CG: Half Japanese". www.robertchristgau.com.
  4. "Half Japanese: Music to Strip By/Charmed Life/The Band That Would Be King". Pitchfork.
  5. Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. p. 174.
  6. Buckley, Peter (August 8, 2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. ISBN 9781843531050 – via Google Books.
  7. "The Quietus | Reviews | Half Japanese". The Quietus.
  8. ^ "Half Japanese". Trouser Press. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
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