Shonen Knife--"Minna Tanoshiku" and the Bottomless Candy Bowl

Kurt Cobain has, in the 13 years since the Nirvana frontman ceased to exist, been made into such a daunting, impenetrable figure of near-spectral proportions that simple facts regarding his person are frequently forgotten as they do not conform to the myth cultivated by fans, friends, enemies, and cultural commentators. Among these facts are several I can't relate to: Cobain was a gifted singer/songwriter, a drug addict, a husband, a father, an ambivalent rock star.

There is another truth which does resonate personally, though--Cobain was a voracious fan of music. To gaze upon the much-dissected list of his top 50 favorite albums is to be awed and perhaps even skeptical (Public Enemy is the go-to rap act for insecure white kids who want to show you how cool they are). There's the melodic crunch of the Pixies, the bat-cave horror of the Swans, the sludge-pudge of Melvins, the saddle-ready classic rock of Aerosmith, and the gleeful amateurism of the Shaggs. And Daniel Johnston. And Shonen Knife.

Ah, Shonen Knife. Did ever a band so beloved by Kurt befuddle his acolytes so thoroughly? Here's the conventional wisdom of those resolutely not "of the knife":

Three Japanese women who want to be the Beatles and the Ramones all wrapped up in a pancake, and probably would be except that they can't play, can't sing, and really can't see how all these big artists who profess to be fans really are taking the royal piss. I mean, Sonic Youth, Redd Kross, Fugazi, Sleater-Kinney, Babes In Toyland, L7, Beck, John Zorn, for God's sake Lemmy, Bikini Kill even--please. Take away the matching outfits and the kitsch factor of cute Asian chicks and no one would give a fuck about a Shonen Knife and their been-there-done-that three fuzzy chords with an uptempo beat.

Well, if you are of the Knife, or don't have an allegiance either way, let's continue.

Shonen Knife began in 1981, two sisters (Naoko and Atsuko Yamano) and a friend (Michie Nakatani) on guitar, drums and bass, respectively with Naoko and Michie sharing vocal duties. After rehearsing and gigging around their hometown of Osaka for a bit, local label XA Records released their first cassette, Minna Tanoshiku ("Everybody Happy" in English) in 1982. The original pressing of 50 copies sold out and diligently XA produced more. However, after only 20 copies had left the presses, the band stepped in and demanded that the label halt. XA abided, and only 70 copies of Minna Tanoshiku were ever made.

Future albums enjoyed greater distribution and band support: Burning Farm, Yama No-Attchan, and Pretty Little Baka Guy, all released between 1983-86 (although the latter is best enjoyed in its 1990 reincarnation with the indispensable, legend-cementing Live in Japan). On these records were a band with a refreshing take on the classic punk-pop sound, reimagined through the minds and hands of musicians whose melodic genius and pure pop sensibility and passion surpassed their technical ability. The lyrics were sung mostly in their native tongue, offering up the personification of fruit, suicide among working women, ugly animals, space travel, and food food food. It still holds up as catchy, super-cute, and undeniably borne of unabashed love for performing music, all brought to you by three women who at that time were still working as secretaries.

Slowly, the American underground caught on. When K Records honcho/Beat Happening founder/all-around Zeus to skinny, sensitive boys in the Pacific Northwest Calvin Johnson trekked to Japan in the early 80s, his musical curiosity led him to the Knife. Enchanted, he blessed Burning Farm with American release in 1985, thus showing these shores their first-ever glisten of SK. A coveted spot on the Sub Pop 100 compilation followed. Still, the girls remained ensconced in the land of the Big Red Dot on a White Flag like baby pandas at the zoo who just cannot bring themselves to appear before the clamoring crowd, choosing instead to huddle in the warm of Mama's protective bulk.

To promote Baka Guy, Shonen Knife released a videotape of crude videos for 8 of the albums 10 songs, mixed with live footage. When a copy found its way into the hands of Los Angeles bubble-punkers Redd Kross, Shonen Knife's previous proclivity towards provinciality was soon to meet its end.

The smitten McDonalds bros. shared both the video and audio Baka cassettes with their friends in the land of sun 'n' smog, spreading the Shonen sensation. Soon, an entire community of hipster-ass Cali-kids were in love. Having been so enamored of the Shaggs, they were thrilled to now have their own Shaggs.

The secret spilled over on August 2, 1989. Cajoled by their newest fans on the West Coast, Shonen Knife played their first-ever US gig at the 2nd Coming in Los Angeles. One grand worth of flesh packed the place, with Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth among the luminaries present to witness history. Those there would go on to describe a scene resembling a religious ceremony at its most fervent.

With that, part of the band died. Just being pleased as papaya to exist and create was no longer the soup of the day. Muddy production and sloppy musicianship (which enhanced the early materials stunning sense of melody and rhythm) was "rectified", gradually, and with the questionable advice of their new manager (who will go unnamed here because he was by many accounts a swindler and he's dead now anyway) Shonen Knife began singing songs exclusively in English. The production values became much crisper. Someone made Atsuko Yamano drum to a click-track in the studio. It all began sounding too clean. Goddamnit, what happened to the rusty Knife?

Not to say that SK from '92 onwards was scrubbed squeaky clean (shut up!) of all appeal. They are to this day releasing quality albums and putting on hellaciously fun live shows. A world with Shonen Knife active within it is far more preferable to a world without. It is rare to come across a band so lacking artifice and pretension about what it is they do. When Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo cites Shonen Knife as an influence on his own massively-impactful band, you can bet it is not so much for their music inasmuch as their love of and dedication to music.

Some describe Shonen Knife as adults playing their music with the mindset of children. This should never be used as an insult; if such a state were strived for by more modern acts, you may very well see a considerable improvement in the state of music. Ah well.

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Who knew, back in 1982, that the band who made a cassette they barely wanted anyone to hear would live on 25 years later as a viable recording and performing group? Who could have imagined that said cassette would be frothed after by a rabid cult, who gnash their teeth over its scarceness and fret themselves hairless over the likelihood that, with each passing year, some fool with a treasure he doesn't even appreciate tosses it in the garbage or lets it depreciate via exposure to any one of several hundred possible dangerous elements? All that we have had is a tracklisting and cover picture provided by some asshole who wouldn't copy it. More recently, Knife fans were set buzzing over the appearance of the tape on auction site gemm.com--the buyer is asking $632.50 for it.

I myself, as a devoted fan of SK, searched the Internet desperately. Certainly someone has put this rarer-than-a-Washington-Nationals-win piece of history up for download. Somewhere. Please.

This week...I found it. Where? Uh uh. No dice. Where I got it is easily accessible if you know how to work that Google. And let me tell you, it was a pain in the ass to download these tracks. I am providing, in one handy zip file, the much-desired, classic-without-hearing-a-single-note, shoulda-been-left-for-dead, Minna Tanoshiku. If you are a Shonen Knife head, you know what this tape means. It is Ground Zero, the book of Genesis, and "Simpsons Roasting On an Open Fire" all in one. One of the most geniune, joyous, enduring bands started here. Enjoy it.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JX4NZFVH

May you indulge a fangirl her own review?

As you will tell if you are already a fan, the majority of these songs were re-recorded for the bands next albums. Here then, a compare/contrast. Jesus, this is just amazing to able to do this!

BANANA LEAF--Later redone for Yama No-Attchan, and a personal favorite, this right off clues you in that you are listening to a muddled recording with low production value. And it's still good. The familiar riff is done via guitar here, as opposed to the later keyboard action, and Michie's ballast bassline is absent.

PARROT POLYNESIA--Appearing on the Burning Farm cassette, and the Minna track most unchanged in its later incarnation. Sing the riff with me, kids..dun-dun, dun-dun...

CANNIBAL PAPAYA--Destined for redo on Yama, this is the single Minna song that I will say they should not have made so many changes to. The bone-dry drums and scorching guitars of the intro are beastly, as is the appearance of backing "ahhhs" during the chorus. Many fans of the Knife bristle at the Shaggs comparisons, and I am one of them. The Shaggs could barely play. The SK of '83-on were never that inept. Well, folks...here's Shonen Shaggs. Michie's basswork and vocal delivery would improve immeasurably on the later version, as would Atsuko's drumming.

SABOTEN--A cover of Delta 5's "You" with new lyrics. The girls have a hell of a time reinterpreting a punky fave. You! You! You will be singing along or found to have no soul.

BURNING FARM--How is this different from the later version? Does starting with two straight minutes of African chanting and drums count for much? Wow. Once the girls come in, you will notice the song is much more sinister than the 1983 version in both music and vocals.

PARALLEL WOMAN--That riff again! Goddamn, few bands just took a riff and worked it into as many holes as Shonen Knife were doing for the stuff that ended up on Burning Farm. Slower than the later rendition. Still very much about workplace suicide.

AN ANGEL IS COMING--Live version of a Yama favorite. Not great.

SPIDER--Consider it confirmed--this is the version that appears on Live in Japan.

I AM A REALIST--Amazing to hear a studio version of this Live in Japan track. Anyone who thinks SK were all sunshine lollipops and Ramones chords everywhere needs to be directed towards this stark, jagged track.

VOICE OF CRANE/TORTOISE BRAND THEME--"Crane" is an almost-pointless intro, but this original version of an absolute Knife classic is a grand example of how rough they really started out. Is that a mouth harp? And oh, Naoko's riffing...damn, she got a lot better.

PLANET X--Never again released. Kinda sounds like "Planet Claire" by the B-52s as it starts. And oh shit, that riff! Except it takes a downturn, thereby another twist on the old formula. I just love it, some bands would take that chord progression, fuck with it, and choose the best-sounding strike to record. Not Shonen Knife. They took that riff and made half a goddamn album with it. Play it fast, play it slow, play this for everyone you know!

SUMMERTIME BOOGIE--Wouldn't appear again until four years later. I swear to God Michie is about to laugh when she and Naoko do the brilliant dual-"Ahhhh!" in the middle. So great.

MIRACLES--The "Miracles" of Burning Farm is the best song ever recorded by an all-girl band. Ever ever ever. So as you can imagine this version was bound to fascinate me. And it does. The avian flu progression of notes is there, but played by a submerged single guitar string as opposed to the latter version's fuzz-o-rama; a drum machine is present throughout; and the vocals are treated to comic effect, like Naoko's down in the water with the guitar string. Yes, kids, it's the best song on the tape STILL.

Wow...I hope you enjoy this find. I'm still on the sugar rush myself!


Shonen Knife Minna Tanoshiku rare cassette mp3