Eat Meat, Swear an Oath / 肉​を​喰​ら​ひ​て​誓​ひ​を​た​て​よ

Formed in the mid-80s around Japanese musician/songwriter Shinji Shibayama, Hallelujahs created a single album of early indie rock sounds not too far removed from what was happening in New Zealand on the Flying Nun label at the same time, or sounds that were bubbling up in the States from young jangly upstarts reveling in the influence of the Velvet Underground. Originally released on Shibayamas own label in an edition of 300 copies, Hallelujahs sole album, Eat Meat, Swear an Oath, consists of eight songs that have the same melancholic melodic sense as Felt, hints of the same proclivity for distortion as Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr., and a noisy tunefulness that would later show up in bands like Pavement, Yo La Tengo, and the Garbage & the Flowers. All of this is delivered with a specific kind of gentle touch, with songs like "The Next Verse" made up of crunchy, overdriven guitar parts but completely lacking drums. "Green Lovers" is similar, with dual vocal harmonies sung in English and a dreamy arrangement that taps into the same territory as Galaxie 500. The singsong melodies are offset by a scrappy fuzz guitar solo, and the entire tune is strange and playful. Hallelujahs rock out mildly on "Christmas Out of Season" and "Ill Soon Follow, No Matter Where You Are," but these moments of ragged rocking are largely outweighed by softer material. Still, feedback and acoustic instruments often co-exist in a weird-but-happy ether throughout Eat Meat, Swear an Oath. Its a rare sound along the same lines as other obscure and usually also one-record affairs like those by Virgin Insanity or the Bachs, but it feels more connected to American indie rock. The 2022 LP reissue from Black Editions includes a bonus 7" with unreleased track "Pie-Para-Para" and an alternate, also unreleased version of album cut "Star," a slow and bittersweet cloud of acoustic guitars and piano possibly inspired by Alex Chilton and Chris Bells depressively beautiful balladry. ~ Fred Thomas