Shonen Knife’s index: Knife; Minna Tanoshiku; CDs; Live shows; Other Projects; Tribute; Links
--No longer amateurs, they remain joyful, and no other band makes music like Shonen Knife--
SHONEN KNIFE
Naoko Yamano--guitar & vocal
Atsuko Yamano--bass & vocal (originally played drums, but switched to
bass when Michie Nakatani left)
Etsuko Nakanishi--drums & vocal (Etsuko has played with Shonen Knife since
2005)
Michie Nakatani--bass & vocal (Michie left the band after Happy Hour.)
SHONEN KNIFE released their most recent CD, Fun! Fun! Fun! in Japan in July
Thanks
to Takaaki Ono
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Yama No Attchan -- (28:35) -- (1984) -- MCA Victor Inc. -- MVCD-18002
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| This CD was released in ‘95 with the last two songs as bonus tracks. Otherwise, this is their second 8". (Their first three were originally released in Japan as 8" records.) This one was named after Atsuko, their drummer, “-chan” being a familiar. It’s a charming recording. Basically, they were still learning how to play their instruments, and these early songs are some of the most creative of their career. They didn’t know the rules, so they did what felt right. The songs express a pure joy. ‘Flying Saucer Attack’ is a song originally by THE REZILLOS. | |
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Pretty Little Baka Guy & Live In Japan -- (41:32) -- (1986) -- Gasatanka -- ROCK-6053-2 -- (US release) | |
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| The first ten tracks are the original Pretty Little Baka Guy 8''. The remaining eight were recorded live in Osaka Japan, 11-15 in 1990 (when this disc was released), and 16-18 in 1982. Pretty Little Baka Guy (on Subversive Records) was my first purchase of SHONEN KNIFE’s music, so it’s probably my favorite of all their releases. They continue to play several of these songs live, and it’s no wonder. Every one of these songs is inventive and some are perfect gems. The live collections are a nice addition, as they give a peek at SHONEN KNIFE’s earliest days and their current (then) development. | ||
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712 -- (40:31) -- (1991) -- Nippon Crown -- CRCR-6017 -- (released in US) | |
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| 712 was recorded over a three-year period and includes assists from many of their new friends. This was SHONEN KNIFE’s first release after their discovery by the rest of the world. The SHONEN KNIFE tribute, Every Band Has A Shonen Knife Who Loves Them, had brought them some much deserved attention. Included are paybacks to REDD KROSS, WHITE FLAG, and BIG DIPPER, and two songs previously released on TATER TOTZ’s Mono Stereo. An alarm clock and, “Good morning Shonen Knife freaks!” opens this enriched production with a quasi hip-hop statement of purpose. | ||
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Space Christmas -- (9:53) -- (1991) -- Seminal Twang -- TWANG 9 -- (US release)
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| ‘Space Christmas’ is a wonderful song with a slick production, beautiful vocal harmonies (at one point a cappella), and a nice guitar solo. Obviously they hoped for some holiday airplay. ‘Christmas Message ‘91’ is SHONEN KNIFE wishing you a Merry Christmas in the same way THE BEATLES used to do once a year on flexi-discs to their fan club. SHONEN KNIFE had recently signed with MCA in Japan and Virgin Records elsewhere. I heard later that the play on THE BEATLES’ messages was directed by their new, major-label assigned, manager and not appreciated by the band, but it is fun. | |
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We Are Very Happy You Came -- (17:41) -- (1991) -- August Records
-- rust 004cd
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| These cuts were chosen from two nights in England. They were opening up for NIRVANA at the time. It succeeds in conveying the joy and artistry of this band, and shows that live--they rock! Though not the most technically adept band around, they know their job is to rock and make people feel good, and they do that well. There is not an ounce of pretentiousness here, and they keep getting better. How many bands can you say that about? ‘Boys’, ‘Suzy Is A Headbanger’, and ‘Goose Step Mama’ (their contribution to THE RUTLES tribute) had not yet appeared on a SHONEN KNIFE recording | |
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Let’s Knife -- (53:08) -- (1992) -- Virgin Records America, Inc. -- V2-86638 -- (US release) | |
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| This CD was designed to introduce SHONEN KNIFE to the masses. The sticker proclaimed, “Shonen Knife’s first all-English full-length album.” Craig Leon (famous for producing THE RAMONES’ first) does a fine job on the mix. The changes in the songs themselves, though, lead me to believe that the vocal tracks are not the only things that’ve been rerecorded. It’s good, though. It’s a slick introduction to the new SHONEN KNIFE. The four new songs stand up well, in a good collection of their classic songs rerecorded with some money. The new sound is big and beautiful. | ||
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Knife Collectors -- (10:53) -- (1993) -- The Official Shonen
Knife Fan Club: Knife Collectors -- (US release)
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| OK, you’re a SHONEN KNIFE fan, but you don’t like the big new SHONEN KNIFE studio sound? This collection may be for you. It’s put out by their Hoboken fan club, and is SHONEN KNIFE having fun with some home demos. It’s interesting, in that it does give you a look into how they construct their songs. The first two have never been released in any other form and are both cute and fun. The finished ‘Strawberry Cream Puff’ made it onto the Japanese version of Rock Animals, and ‘Hokey Pokey’ is them joking about with that traditional children’s song. None of this is really must-have, though. | |
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Brown Mushrooms And Other Delights -- (14:47) -- (1993) -- Virgin
Records -- V25H-38414 -- (US release)
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| Here’s a chance to pick up ‘Strawberry Cream Puff’, a nice song about Naoko’s obsession with the things, without having to dig up the Japanese version of Rock Animals. Plus, you get SHONEN KNIFE’s take on a classic KINKS’ song. Those are the highlights of this EP, which preceded the release of Rock Animals. I do like this version of ‘Brown Mushrooms’ slightly better than the one on Rock Animals, but though ‘Butterfly Boy’ is one of my favorite songs on Rock Animals, this mix is not an improvement. The added keyboard break is an interesting novelty. | |
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Rock Animals -- (48:05) -- (1993) -- Virgin Records America,
Inc. -- 7243 8 39063 2 1 -- (US release)
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| ‘Strawberry Cream Puff’ replaces ‘Quavers’ on the Japanese version, which also featured most of the songs sung partially in Japanese. I’m told, though, that the songs were translated from English to Japanese and not the reverse. Though they continue to write songs with a childlike viewpoint, there is a growing maturity. The range in styles continues to be wide, and some of these songs are as good as they’ve ever written. Their technique and ability in the studio is continuing to grow. Dare I say it? They’ve become professional Rock Animals! | |
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Tomato Head -- (16:45) -- (1994) -- Virgin Records America,
Inc. -- v25h-38433 -- (US release)
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| Though I usually feel remixes are a waste, ‘Tomato Head’ is a really good song, and these remixes are all good fun. They are done by David Z, THE DUST BROTHERS, and Howard Benson, in that order. They get longer as they go on, closing with the nearly six minute, heavy-rock version, featuring Lemmy of MOTORHEAD, (he laughs and says, “Arigato!”) Though I’m sure he likes SHONEN KNIFE, it could be that he also enjoys a good Bloody Mary and appreciated the song from that perspective. On top of which, you can’t argue with SHONEN KNIFE doing ‘Heat Wave’. They do it with feeling. | |
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Brand New Knife -- (70:55) -- (1997) -- Big Deal -- 9035-2 -- (US release) | |
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| Tracks 14-20 are the Japanese versions of these songs. The word I heard is that SHONEN KNIFE decided they had had enough of Page Porrazzo, who had co-produced, with them, almost all their material from Space Christmas on. As a result, they left Virgin, but they keep on rockin’. Their first full-length recorded in the U.S. sounds fine. Unfortunately, with the exception of ‘E.S.P.’ and one or two others, the material, previously their strong-point, is weak. Technically they continue to improve and some of the song-structures are artful, but where’s the joy of life? Oops, I think they’ve matured. | ||
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Happy Hour -- (40:56) -- (1998) --Big Deal -- 9055-2 -- (US release) | |
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| ‘Shonen Knife Planet’ opens up in toy-store hip-hop mode, “Wake up everybody! It’s now Happy Hour!” much like ‘Shonen Knife’ opens 712. That’s followed by feedback and ‘Konnichiwa’, their statement of purpose, “Let’s have a good time tonight.” Happily, they’ve remembered their mission was to bring joy to the planet, and they do a good job of it here. This is a cookie-cutter release for SHONEN KNIFE. There are five food songs. ‘His Pet’ is Naoko’s guitar pounder. ‘Fish Eyes’ is Michie at her most wonderfully surreal. Throw in a ‘60s cover and you’ve got a good SHONEN KNIFE release. | ||
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Strawberry Sound -- (46:13) -- (2000) -- Universal Victor, Inc. -- MVCH-29043 | |
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| This is a surprising release. Michie’s exit has caused SHONEN KNIFE to reevaluate itself. Embracing a re-born amateurism, Naoko and Atsuko are now joyfully reconsidering their options. When they rock, it’s still SHONEN KNIFE, but often, these songs sound like wacky home-demos fleshed out on computer-keyboards. That’s fun too, and that kind of experimentation has been missing of late. Technical standards have dropped a bit, but the result is a pleasingly-wide range of sounds. It’s good to see so many new paths being considered, my fave being the psychedelic ‘Mayonnaise Addiction’. | ||
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Millennium Edition -- (41:00) -- (2000) -- Universal Music -- UUCH-1029 | |
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| This material was released between ‘96 and ‘99, except for three “unreleased versions” of songs from Strawberry Sound. Considering Michie was still in the band throughout most of that time, she is under-represented here. She’s credited with co-writing ‘Mysterious Drugstore’ from It’s A New Find, and it’s one of the most interesting things here, perhaps because it’s one of three I hadn’t heard before. Even if you don’t already have most of this material, this is not an especially good sampling of SHONEN KNIFE from this period. If you do have most of it, you’d be better off picking up the rest. | ||
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Heavy Songs -- (42:32) -- (2002) -- Warner Indies Network -- WINN-82101
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| The production is improved on this more traditional SHONEN KNIFE release. A variety of sounds shows that they’re trying, and yet there’s a sameness that’s kind of sad. The highlight here is an Atsuko song. Hurray, another voice heard from! The rest are all Naoko’s, and though she is continuing to expand her range of sounds, her point of view seems a bit stagnant. There are some good songs, some clever approaches, and some friends helping in the studio, but where’s the joy? In ‘Heavy Song’ she fears becoming overweight like Elvis. A bigger problem though, was that he stopped trying. | |
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Candy Rock -- (30:25) -- (2003) -- Warner Indies Network -- WINN-82129
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| The production’s nice. The songs, all in Japanese, are played well, and little surprises are scattered throughout. There’s a strange guitar effect here, whistling there, charming touches that keep things spinning. The vocals seem a bit flat, which isn’t new, but as the production gets tighter, the playing improves, and the songs conform more to standard formats, the vocals ought to follow suit. That does not keep this from being a dandy release. It’s a happy return to their rocking form, and a bouncing step into a future of ever more well-crafted pop and rock gems that wiill keep us all smiling. | |
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Genki Shock! (Spirit Shock!) -- (48:23) -- (2005) -- P-Vine Records -- PCD-25029 -- (U.S. version released) | |
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| Amongst the particulars is the statement, “No Synthesizers”. Other than a few tapes of natural sounds, they stick to guitar, bass, drums, and vocals, yet manage to get a good range of sounds. The musicianship continues to improve. The songwriting takes big steps forward, and some of Naoko’s melody lines here are wonderful. Occasionally, a verse/refrain structure lacks a good break, but any SHONEN KNIFE fan will be more than pleased with this new expansion of their sound, which both conforms to traditional rock/pop, and further defines the magic world of SHONEN KNIFE. | ||
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Live In Osaka -- (74:18) -- (2006) -- P-Vine Records -- PCD-25044 | |
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| A SHONEN KNIFE concert is a wonderful thing! Listening to one is pretty good, too. This is over an hour of SHONEN KNIFE playing in their hometown, and favorite city, Osaka. SHONEN KNIFE no longer muster the frenetic joy and excitement they once did at live shows. It was more than contagious. It was a powerful wave that washed over you, allowing everyone in that audience to appreciate the world as gleefully as SHONEN KNIFE did. SHONEN KNIFE have matured, but there is still some of that joy in their music, and in the shouts of their hometown fans. There are a couple of new songs, too. Enjoy! | ||
---LIVE---
Shonen Knife/Splitsville--Mondo Kim's--5/3/97
They’re also playing
at Irving Plaza tonight, but when I saw that they were playing at Kim’s
for free, well, it’s not like I haven’t seen SHONEN KNIFE enough.
SHONEN KNIFE did ‘Explosion!’,
‘Loop Di Loop’, and ‘E.S.P.’ on the same instruments as
SPLITSVILLE. They were cute. Naoko was selling the new CD and the show, but
in a sweet way. They played well, though I expect with their own set-up and
equipment they’ll sound even better tonight. They were in street-clothes,
but I’ll bet they’ll be back in costume tonight.
Shonen Knife/Michael Shelley--Bowery Ballroom--8/25/98
SHONEN KNIFE came out after
a long wait and were lots of fun. They preserve a wonderful amateurishness,
in spite of their growing professionalism. They played a fair number of songs
from their new CD, but did not neglect to play a bunch of their classics.
They also charmingly plugged their merchandise, Michie pointing out that the
books were very heavy to bring over from Japan and they didn’t want to
have to bring them back. The highlight of the show for them was when Marky
Ramone, who also introduced the set, came out and played drums for them on
‘I Wanna Be Sedated’. The crowd loosely filled the small room. It
was quite comfortable, not crowded, but the audience was very enthusiastic
and called them out for two encores. They closed with ‘Kappa Ex.’,
which I like to believe they played for me. Dan and I both enjoyed the show
very much. Having seen them play many times, it’s no longer the amazingly
wonderful experience it once was, but it’s SHONEN KNIFE and they are
fabulously unique.
Shonen Knife/The Paybacks/The Gore Gore Girls/The Hentchmen--Southpaw--10/25/03
It took a while for SHONEN
KNIFE to come out. Finally the curtain opened, but SHONEN KNIFE werenÕt on
the stage. Their instruments were all set up, but otherwise the stage was
empty, and the curtains began to close again. That was when Naoko and Atsuko
finally emerged, and the curtains opened up again. Naoko and Atsuko (now on
bass guitar) took their positions to much applause, and after a pause, the
drummer, Mana, came out, and they launched into a few of their classic songs.
With Mana as support drummer, the band sounds better than ever. She is a true
professional and plays wonderfully. I always thought Atsuko did a fine job
on drums, but now she’s doing a fine job on bass, and Mana is a definite
improvement to their sound, also helping out substantially on back-up vocals.
Naoko continues to improve on guitar. In ‘Riding On The Rocket’
she had a wonderful effect on the guitar where she would raise her hand up
over her head and seemed to manipulate the sound from there, like some strange
theremin thing, but sounding more like a slide down a moog keyboard. They
plugged their new release, here in the States, of Heavy Songs, and
did a number of songs from that. Then they played through a number of choice
songs from throughout their career, which showed off well the diversity of
their material over the years. Atsuko got to sing two songs during the set.
Regularly she and Naoko would step out onto the part of the stage that came
out into the audience, raising their guitars, and then bowing them like heavy
metal bands of yore. The highlight of the show for me was their rendition
of ‘I Wanna Eat Choco-Bars’. Mana’s syncopation, and Naoko’s
guitar were smoother than I believed possible. It brought a new slickness
and depth to that song. Unfortunately, the band didn’t seem to have the
wonderful exuberance and joy of rocking like they were having the time of
their lives that was always the best part of a SHONEN KNIFE show. In spite
of this, the audience warmly received them, and though the set was short,
and the encore of ‘Top Of The World’ and ‘Banana Chips’
was wonderful, it still seemed to be over much too quickly.
Shonen Knife/Modey Lemon/Hang On The Box/Secret Weapon--Knitting
Factory--10/26/03
Again SHONEN KNIFE‘s roadies
took their time setting up their stage, and again when their entrance music
began they didn’t come out right away. When they did, they were warmly
received. They waved, readjusted the tuning on their just tuned guitars, and
launched into ‘Flying Jelly Attack’. This crowd was quite a bit
more excited than the crowd last night, who were not slouches. After the long
night it was good to see SHONEN KNIFE again. The set was very similar to last
night’s, but for New York they had added at least one song to the set,
and somehow that was all that was needed to make it feel like a good solid
set. I was surprised how much of the stage antics were choreographed, and
noted that, though Atsuko and Naoko bounced around quite a bit and smiled
often, it still wasn’t with the excited joy of the old days. Perhaps
it’s just been a very long tour, or maybe they’ve just done it so
many times now it’s just another performance, and no longer an amazing
event. The audience didn’t seem to notice, though, and clapped, and yelled,
and raised their forefinger and little finger salute whenever the band did.
What really made me happy, though, was when I noticed Mana, doing a wonderful
job back there on the drums. Every once in a while she would look out at the
audience and just beam, the way the whole band used to. The final kick of
the evening was when, after playing the encore from last night, SHONEN KNIFE
capped the night off with ‘Antonio Baka Guy’. It was a wonderful
show that made the long night well worthwhile!
After the show, Atsuko and Naoko happily
talked with, gave autographs, and posed for pictures with anyone who wanted
a little one on one with the stars.
Shonen Knife/Visqueen/Tra La La--Maxwell’s--3/4/05
SHONEN KNIFE were up next. They
came out to warm applause. This tour, their support drummer is named Etsuko.
She doesn’t have the technical finesse of Mana, last year’s support
drummer who’s now playing with DMBQ, but she’s a pounder, and did
a find job. SHONEN KNIFE didn’t play one slow song all night, until the
very end, when they played a couple of Naoko’s guitar pounders, where
the slow parts are only rests between the frantic paced, guitar churning,
work-outs. Etsuko pounded away throughout the set, and it’s been quite
a while since I’ve heard SHONEN KNIFE rock as hard as they did tonight.
They came out for the sold out crowd in their classic Mondrian outfits, and
Naoko did most of the talking in a very polite manner. She introduced the
songs, thanked everyone for coming, and encouraged everyone to come and see
them tomorrow at Knitting Factory. It was interesting that the sold out crowd
was still quite comfortable. I remember a good number of years ago, the last
time I saw SHONEN KNIFE at Maxwell’s, the place was packed. I wasn’t
able to get anywhere near the stage, and with the small stage, from where
I was, I could only rarely see one of their heads between the heads of the
crowd before me. I very much appreciate Maxwell’s new (though probably
not that new) policy. The set was strong, and included songs from throughout
their career. Naoko and Atsuko took turns singing, and occasionally did little
rockin’ routines during the musical breaks in songs. One of the nicest
things was when Naoko stepped out front and center for some of her guitar
solos. Her guitar playing continues to improve. These days her rhythm playing
is quite good, and most of her leads tonight were both strong and edgy. Meanwhile,
Etsuko would be pounding away back on her drums, and her head would be bobbing
back and forth, as she sat in the pocket and slammed away at the beat. Atsuko
kept the bass lines pumping, now and again dropping in a sweet turn of phrase.
They played a good variety of songs, including some of my favorites, and when
the end finally came, and the audience failed to sufficiently call for an
encore, SHONEN KNIFE came back anyway, and treated us to a Ramones song. Yep,
there were THE OSAKA RAMONES blasting out ‘I Wanna Be Sedated’.
This crowd didn’t deserve it, but it was a nice way to finish off the
night.
Shonen Knife/The Juliet Dagger/Verona Grove--Blender Theatre--11/19/07
SHONEN KNIFE appeared with
matching pink guitars and a big Genki Shock flag behind them. As Naoko explained,
Genki Shock is the title of their latest U.S. release. They played some songs
from it, but they’ve actually got a newer CD released in July in Japan
called fun! fun! fun!, and the song they chose to play from it, ‘Ramones
Forever’, was perfect for this New York audience. There were a wide range
of ages at this show, to the point that I fit right in, which doesn’t
happen that often lately. It was great to see Atsuko with the band again on
this, the first night of their first U.S. tour since she left the band. She
sang two songs tonight. I actually expected to see her joyfully reliving her
SHONEN KNIFE days, but she approached it in a very workwomanlike manner. I
don’t think I saw her smile the entire night. When they started up, I
was standing next to a man about my age who hadn’t seen them before,
and as they started into their first song, he leaned over to me, obviously
impressed, and said, “They rock!”, and it’s true. They always
have! Live, SHONEN KNIFE have always rocked, and that’s pretty much the
point. Naoko led her band through a wide selection of their material, and
by now they have a good deal of material to choose from. I was surprised,
though, that tonight, to a large extent, they stayed away from their oldest
material, which, for me, defines who SHONEN KNIFE are. Except for three songs,
they stuck to more recent, and mid-career material. Their second song was
‘Flying Jelly Attack’. They didn’t play another until well
into the set when they revved things up with ‘Riding On The Rocket’,
and then to finish off their encore they closed with ‘Antonio Baka Guy’.
Naoko seemed perfectly at home fronting her band. She regularly gave short
introductions to her songs, and though she may never be that hot a guitar
player, she played her leads note for note, often stepping out front, and
never missing a note. In fact, they brought their set to a climax with a few
of Naoko’s biggest guitar crunchers one after the other. It caused the
biggest flurry of activity in the audience, which was bubbling with the bison
horns all night long. Etsuko, on drums, kept the beat pumping strong throughout
the set, and every now and then, when she was on top of the beat and could
relax a bit, she’d look out at the audience and smile. Then it was right
back to pounding those skins. There are only two official members of SHONEN
KNIFE now, and they’re Naoko and Etsuko. Atsuko used to be an official
member, though, so it was great to see her back up on stage with her sister.
SHONEN KNIFE keeps rocking, and it’s always fun to see them again!
--OTHER PROJECTS--
| TOMOE SHINOHARA | |
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Dream & Machine -- (43:08) -- (1999) -- Warner Artists Inc. -- HDCA-10002
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| This is quirky pop music, but not as energetic as I had expected from reports of Tomoe Shinohara’s earlier recordings. Different artists wrote and recorded the music for each track, resulting in a surprisingly wide-ranging collection. I find most of this too happy poppy, but it sounds like everyone had a good time, and Tomoe did a fine job stretching to fit the various styles. My favorite track is Yuka Honda’s, but ‘Alligator’ has SHONEN KNIFE written all over it! | |
--TRIBUTES--
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Every Band Has A Shonen Knife Who Loves Them -- (69:11) -- (1989) -- Gasatanka/Giant Records -- GRI6036-2 | ||
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| This was a great concept--a tribute to a band that most people hadn’t heard of. Unfortunately, with a few wonderful exceptions, it isn’t fun to listen to. Many of the artists just don’t seem to take the project seriously. Its existence, however, did put the buzz out on SHONEN KNIFE, and helped to break them in the U.S. That was certainly a worthy accomplishment. The double-LP release (GRI6036-1) contains an extra nine songs (22:28 minutes). The CD claims exclusive material, too. If so, it’s negligible. A classic touch is the very cool cover of SHONEN KNIFE as rampaging transformer robots. | |||
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Fork And Spoon (A Tribute To Shonen Knife) -- (38:08) -- (2006) -- P-Vine Records -- PCD-25043
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| Japanese bands celebrate SHONEN KNIFE! Early on, the lukewarm arrangements don’t add up to much. Then, around EASTERN YOUTH’s version of ‘Concrete Animals’, it starts to get interesting. ZUBONS have fun with ‘Burning Farm’, and Kazumi Nikaido takes ‘Tortoise Brand Pot Scrubbing Cleaner’s Theme’ to a wonderful place. From there things drop back down to energetically enthusiastic, with a very sweet ‘Insect Collector’ by Seiichi Yamamoto to wrap things up in style. Overall, a good showing, and evidence that SHONEN KNIFE is getting some deserved respect in their homeland. | |
--Linkage--
Their site (in Japanese):
Shonen Knife HOMEPAGE
Shonen Knife central:
The Shonen Knife Nexus
