Salt Mines, Salt Yours: The Music Of Shonen Knife

 

2/15/2023

Four years after Sweet Candy Power, the Knife Most Shonen return to a world more sore and restless than ever before. Retirement is out of the question. Resignation is for sled dogs. Regret is the residue of shame. Naoko, Atsuko, and Risa have little to no time for gold watches, flower boxes, or witless mugs.  

"MUJINTO Rock"--Island power! The hand-painted signage is the first indicator that a place without rule is not necessarily a place without order. If it can be thought of, it can be partaken of, whether we're talking raspberry ice cream served in a gravy boat or spiritual delight attained on a mossy cliff.

"Nice Day"--A pretty pistol, strictly for display purposes. Sweet earth activities never-ending: walk the dog, talk to God. 

"The Story of Baumkuchen"--German or not, the SK ladies eat their cake with treble hooks 'stead-a forks. 

"Vamos Taquitos"--Ska is everything wrong with avocado; pop-punk is everything right with avocado. 

"Spicy Veggie Curry"--Joey Ramone never sang about the pure pleasure of a fat ravioli plate, and he should have. 

 "Girl's Rock"--An English-language re-do of a 2003 compilation track, that possessive-ass apostrophe is the signal to uplift. 

"Afternoon Tea"--A merry march meant to sell toys. Yes, Shonen Knife is/are cute, but the passion surpasses, somehow. 

"Ocean Sunfish"--I've never learned to swim, but I slash just fine. 

"Better"--Funny, the most underwhelming song here has the truest message: social media is designed to enrage and enervate. Sometimes, disconnection does a body good.

"Just A Smile"--The alternate universe where Shonen Knife reign as the world's greatest cover band bleeds over into our world yet again, to everyone's benefit. Brimming with harmonies and hand claps, this makes a prime album closer. Pilot definitely should've been a two-hit wonder, yeah? 

 

 

Overtime Till Time Is Over

6/25/2019

Another half-hour shift. Pour out some jelly beans, cram a pack of creme eggs into your cheeks, and marinate on the lesson as taught by the peanut butter jar and the chocolate bunny: consent is key.

"Party"--Ronnie Spector leathered out, is it a shock? No, it's sugar cubes in a sock. Shonen Knife turned My Bloody Valentine into a 60s girl group, please don't not invite 'em to the shindig.

"Dizzy"--Ice cream cones pointing out of the toaster! Let's go beat cinnamon buns together! Have good fun with a food gun!

"Sweet Candy Power"--Nineteen albums in thirty-eight years, the fake-out ballad is by now honed and gleaming. Peppermint Butler betta have my honey.

"My Independent Country"--Lightly-fried politics. In the nascent days of the Knife, the Yamano sisters used to sneak out of their house to play gigs. Your favorite punk band are in fact calves.

"Wave Rock"--Make the 2021 Summer Olympics even more special by introducing challenges. Ever tried finishing The Legend Of Zelda without a sword? Or slamming through Goldeneye with a Klobb-only arsenal? Beach volleyball with oily balls.

"Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches"--Underrated material for house-building. Willy Wonka'd blow a stream of steam through the top of his hat.

"Never-Never Land"--Skip across the trails and over the hills. Trust me.

"Peppermint Attack"--Atsuko Yamano's progressed from a drummer who somehow plays behind the beat and ahead of the beat simultaneously to a drummer who hits the dime every time. And that's great, but I miss the sloppiness. It's the difference between hand-dipped and soft serve, y'know?

"California Lemon Trees"--'Cause the lemon trees in NY suck, and I saw three dead pigeons underneath one, probably a family. Use a straw for imbibing gold.

"Match 3"--When you can't ascertain which Ramones song is being ripped off, is it good or bad? Naoko Yamano told Spill magazine "I just keep on rocking," and I'm 99% she's been barred from at least two onsens for singing "Rock Hard Ride Free" by Judas Priest in changing rooms.

How many stars out of five? Dunno. They're all happy and healthy, though, however many there are.

Get This Work: The Music of Shonen Knife

2016

Full-length #20, drummer #68. At least Atsuko's still in Rocket #9.

"Jump Into the New World"--Enter the No Apprehension Zone. A bad episode of The West Wing, a good U2 song. Y'know--less sheen, more edge.

Thanks for not X'ing out.

"Rock N Roll T-Shirt"--Def Leppard? Naw, Metallica. Shirt-wise, I mean. This ain't "Photograph," but it ain't "No Leaf Clover" neither. A person's strut is proportional to what's covering their chest. Letters colors lines--mind the tag.

"Calabash"--Would you rather be lucky or charming? Impressive and unnecessary, like a Bozzio drum kit.

"Dog Fight"--The tacos in Ron, Mexico are too peppery for me.

"Wasabi"--"Why is it so hot?"

Why isn't levitation taught in schools? Try eating snakes in a can. Nein gut. The black leather groove of a 55-year-old woman is a sunrise.

"Green Tangerine (Kabosu)"--Tasty number (oh ho), purely for the young of tongue. In another universe, Shonen Knife reigns as the best Ramones cover band; in still another, the Shirelles with instruments.

"Imi (Emoji)"--Devil horn clown face green heart. Adorably high-energy and low-sugar. If you feel guilty, well, that's y'own fault.

"Hawaii"--Peace, love and loco moco. My arms are up, my eyes are shut. Swaying is saving is savoring.

"Tasmanian Devil"--What else could this song be but a Dalmatian puppy with an unpeeled banana in its mouth?

"Cotton Candy Clouds"--Tomorrow always knows. Thus why it exudes confidence as today quivers and twitches on dry land.

Are the airplanes made of funnel cake? Why not.



Ten songs, thirty-four minutes. Chocolate, peanut butter. For real, forever. Lovely together and never to be torn asunder, do you hear me, Reese's Pieces?

Working For the Week: The Music of Shonen Knife

POP TUNE 
6/6/2012

For real deal--some jobs are never done.

Never judge a book by its cover, a film by its cinematography, or a record label by its owner.  Good Charamel Records was started in 2003 by Goo Goo Dolls bassist/co-founder Robby Takac.  (You may remember the Goo Goo Dolls from such wretched songs as every single one they ever recorded.)  Good Charamel's impressive streak of eight years without releasing a single album I cared about ended when they put out Shonen Knife's 18th studio offering, Pop Tune.

"Welcome to the Rock Club"--Drum beat, it's a rock beat.  Welcome to the raw crab, indeed.  Fists stomp, feet pump, words do-si-do.  Naoko Yamano is a goddess in her own mind, which is the only requirement.  Asian buffets replace Colombian ones and stuffed animals occupy the bed-space the lesser deities might reserve for sleazoid leech-types.

"Pop Tune"--Pop having wistful thoughts of punk.  Memories that wrap 'round rather than smother.  The women of Shonen Knife are superheroes with no traceable villains, tailoring melodies for episodes of a lovably off-kilter animated series favored by viewers with the eternal kernel of childhood popping forever about.

(Might have been no call for that key change, but there was a text for it.)

"Osaka Rock City"--"I need more excitement," goes the litany.  Not terribly enticing the first few swings, but after I loaded up an animated gif of a dancing Snoopy and let it loop whilst playing this 'un, the enjoyment level increased exponentially.  As the enjoyment level is wont to do whenever dancing Snoopy is in the vicinity.

"All You Can Eat"--The organic peculiarity of the Knife means a song titled "All You Can Eat" was inevitable.  That it features a kazoo solo is merely a honey-dipped bonus.

A tidy break from the wall of sound, "AYCE" boasts chords with discernible footprints.  "Fill yourself with food, " Naoko beseeches us, and you don't gotta tell this feedbag more than once.  The succulent selections of sushi; the gloriously-sauced and deeply-fried meats; the rolls both spring and egg--there's a reason I wait until late at night to write these reviews.

"Paper Clip"--A shadowed strut along the snoozer's edge.  The winds are for sails only.  I've seen this sky before.  "Life is a journey/No need to cry."

"Psychedelic Life"--The Seventies vibe that permeates Pop Tune pulsates strongest here, the sole turn at the mic for drummer Emi Morimoto.  Nothing fruity or alarming here.  So many of SK's songs sound like short story concepts set to music.

"Mr. J"--Not about weed.  Or Julius Erving.  Absolutely about cotton candy.

"Ghost Train"--"Oh yeah."

Say it again.

"Oh yeah."

Pigs decked out in penguin costumes achieve a tenth of the coolness on display here.  Oink and waddle all you want, Wilbur, but Charlotte is still dead, and the rockin' shudder of Shonen Knife still cannot be surpassed.  

"Sunshine"--Bass-slinger Ritsuko Taneda offers up a track which manages to come off more psychedelic than the song with the actual word in its title.

"Sunshine" is comparable to someone who believes in love reading the first few lines of an above-average romantic poem. 

"Move On"--An odd conclusion.  By-the-numbers optimism that is either heartening in its consistency or discouraging in its consistency.  Only you, the listener, can decide. 

OVERDRIVE
4/15/2014

See?  They just won't go home.  Bless 'em.  The furnace is probably on the fritz, anyway.

"Bad Luck Song"--Naoko Yamano listens to naught but Seventies rock radio stations for one solid weekend while vegging out at home, noshing on every type of comfort food but veggies.  Come Monday, she has an album written in her head, raring to go.  Not to mention a roiling tummy.

"Bad Luck Song" is akin to wolfing down an entire pizza.  I don't know why I did it.  I know it felt good while I was doing it.  I know, furthermore, that in spite of that excruciating discomfort doing the Double Dare obstacle course run around my insides, and in spite of the repeated assurances to self that never again will I allow my appetite to rule so rapaciously, the day will come when I yet again take a whole pie to the face.

"Black Crow"--A diamond kiss, a hazardous bliss.  Dark without being dank, greased-up but not slippery.  Shonen Knife love their heavy metal suffused with dreams that scrub the brain clean of all those scruffy boy-sins.

"Dance to the Rock"--No choice is left!  At the rock club, it's only right!  Exuberant ducks all in a row, keep the bread in yer pocket.

"Ramen Rock"--SK eschew the trappings of the rawk life for smooth noodle indulgence.  Chuckles by the basketful.

"Shopping"--Classic rock mall life.  Eh?  These mash-ups are leaving me Brak-brained.

"Fortune Cookie"--Worst part of any Asian buffet experience.  Hokey advice, mush-mouthed proverbs, who needs it?  Gimme a fried banana with a fiver wrapped around it any day.

"Like a Cat"--If you are wondering whether or not "meow" sounds are inserted into "Like a Cat," I wonder how familiar you are with this band here.

I Am a Cat?  No I am Like a Cat.  Big big.  Big Cat.  Pump it up...slow it down.  Every day they read the cookbook:  To Serve Cats.

To frolic and play the feline way--never could I pull off such.  I'm the stern-faced creature carrying more weight than most on my four legs, so forget the slinking and the slithering, and why ever would I purr when a bark goes better?  Still...I just can't resist these curious charms.

"Green Tea"--Spiked with the stuff that shelters ears in fuzz.  This one is much better than actual green tea, or really any tea you can name.  I much prefer coffee, but a Shonen Knife under the collective influence of all that caffeine would bring about an adorableness too fidgety and bubbly for the world to contain.

"Robots From Hell"--I'd love to see them play this live, if only to grin up at 'em from my spot in the front and yell, "Y'all still cute as all hell!"  Clank and burn, but wait your turn!

"Jet Shot"--I was going to specify a single subject, but forget that--"Jet Shot" is the entire Candy Kingdom from Adventure Time.  Grab all the goods, savor all the tastes, marvel at all the colors, and above all appreciate the goddamn textures.



Naoko Yamano has gone on record stating her desire that Shonen Knife should last forever.  Not in the sense that they have recorded classic music that will be listened to generations from now.  (Though by my estimation they have.)  She means that the band Shonen Knife should, literally, last forever.  Even after she's moved on to that great buffet in the sky, there should exist on Earth three irrepressible Japanese women filling the increasingly ugly air with pretty sound under the name of Shonen Knife.  

I can't say that Naoko's wish is either foolhardy or undesirable.  I can say, however, that if Shonen Knife indeed prove to be the cockroaches of rock, I need to start training someone to take over these reviews. 

Time and A Half For Weekend Work: The Music of Shonen Knife

Super Group

11/7/2008

With the insanely adorable Etsuko Nakanishi taking over behind the drums.

"Super Group"--Still at it...in fact addicts.

Naoko Yamano is the rare lyricist whose words jump into the air, into your ear, and tickles the hairs. "Their recordings are the best/Super pop songs touch everybody's heartstrings."

Intention and satisfaction in a wall of riffage and occasionally flashy bottom end...soloing simple as sun beams...the modern Shonen Knife in full force here.

On paper, the Traveling Wilburys were the greatest super group ever. George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, that other guy. Where from concept to execution did it all go so horribly wrong? I bet Naoko loves that record though. Just a guess.

"Slug"--Youth is served with the increased musicianship exhibited by the rhythm section. The intro makes me think someone's about to bust out a sped-up "I Will Follow Him," but alas alack. The fuzz axe-wielding behemoth saves it for its wedding night here. Very cool song, and I co-sign the sentiment fully. I remember being a young girl (not a little girl; I was once "young," but I have never been "little") staying with my family in Kentucky some random sweltering summer night and stepping out on the back porch to witness a veritable slug family leaving trails all over the steps. Then my grandmother made me eat tapioca pudding. I fucking loathe tapioca pudding. More than slugs? I dunno, it's not a contest! They're both terrible, horrible, no good, very fucked up things to be endured in this world.

"Muddy Bubbles Hell"--The obligatory devil-horns to the sky anthem, and with a title like that, how could it be anything but such? It's like if you see a song called "It Will Be a Good Time (Jah So)," you know it's gonna be reggae, and it's gonna suck.

When the temptresses pull back the hellfire curtain, cannons do not boom, pits do not spit up lava, demonic laughter does not escape Satanic lungs, and Rob Halford does not take the stage on a motorcycle. Speed and slash is forsaken, leaving ample room for spooky pewter-hued shadows to haunt your every step underneath a sky that shifts shades by the second.

Shit is Sabbath-ian.

"Deer Biscuits"--Yet another song on Super Group reminds me of well-spent youth in KY. Not 'cause of any deer, but 'cause of biscuits. For all the crap people from the American South get from other Americans--lazy, uneducated, insensitive, hateful, intolerant, obese, unwashed--you cannot deny that they do three things at a higher level of outstandingness than any other people in any other region of the U.S., and those things three are: drinking, storytelling, and eating. And they eat plenty biscuits. Plenty cornbread. Plenty buttered up and washed down.

Lest I fall into a snare decorated all pretty-like, however, I will be the first to say that the music taste of the average citizen who has to crane their neck to see the Mason-Dixon line lacks a tad. Play some Shonen Knife for the average Tennessean, and it will not go over well.

Naoko is not the mistress of metaphor. This song is about how she visited a deer park and gave a deer some biscuits. She also dispenses some advice for those listeners who may one day visit a deer park: "Make sure it's a sunny day."

"BBQ Party"--Super Group is, by far, the most Southern album Shonen Knife will ever do. How goddamn yee-haw y'all is a barbecue? Mind you, Naoko lists tofu and squid among the edibles at her particular git-down.

"Pig out pig out!" the chorus exhorts. Ah gluttony, the most universal of the deadly sins! "Don't worry about your diet." I hear that; see you in muddy bubbles hell, closely monitored daily caloric intake!

(Quiet as kept, Etsuko is the MVP. She's the classic mini-dynamo, contained in fresh-lock containers when at rest.)

"Pyramid Power"--Naoko's tone is kinda wicked...it's probably the most notable aspect of 21st century SK albums, all told.

"Earth Wind and Fire made a 'Fantasy'/Pyramids on the stage." She's right, you know.

"Time Warp"--Let's do it. Again and again. And again and again!

"Na Na Na"--I won't lie, we're hitting a rough patch here, that inevitable skid on most latterly Knife records featuring songs that are utterly unremarkable. This is the band that did "Public Bath," the racket-gang that is exactly what the Ramones would be as Japanese women, mediocrity cannot be accepted.

"Your Guitar"--This is better. Meaningful volume has returned, and so has heart. Naoko beseeches a woman who has abandoned her rock n roll fantasies to walk over to that corner, dust off that Fender, plug in the amp, and re-commence to the fuckin' rockin'. Naoko, see, she never stopped. She knows how good it can always be.

"Jet"--I am a feverish fan of Paul McCartney. Yeah, I'm one of those. "Jet" is one of the man's finest several minutes, so I was kinda apprehensive at the prospect of Shonen Knife running it through their popcorn mower. And while it's not a tragedy, nor is it a triumph. The vocal harmonies bring visions of three singing Hello Kittys and no, I don't want that in my head. The ooh-woo's are far too subdued.

Super Group...just another product from the factory. It's what I expected.

Free Time

1/6/2010

This cover is one of the few immaculate creations to spring forth from Earthly minds. CATS IN SPACE, a sight so spectacular that fish burst through the ocean, through the sky, through the planet to gaze adoringly upon it!

I picked up both Super Group and Free Time at Amoeba Records, the Hollywood record store that really needs to annex a small house for me to live in. Trick and I were staying with our friend Kar, and if we couldn't make it out anywhere else, we had to pass through Amoeba. Just one of those decisions that's "no brains required."

We blasted Free Time in the car the next day, and it was like reuniting with your life's love after a week with no contact.

"This doesn't sound like them," Patrick claimed.

"Sounds good to me," I said.

"This fucking rocks," Kar averred.

"I never said I didn't like it!" Poor Patrick. Kar and me each have two X's, you only have one.

"Perfect Freedom"--Limber and lucid, the perfect freedom granted to crack planks underfoot in the attic, instead of cheekily checking reflections in a spic'n'span kitchen floor.

"Rock N Roll Cake"--Malt shop sells fuzz-rimmed drinking glasses and wicked tasty cake by the slice.

"I want to sleep inside it/Like hibernation." Kinda like Slayer do between albums!

The contrasting guitar parts make this a near-rival for red velvet.

"Economic Crisis"--Feed is back! Back to stay! Metallic Knife is here early baby, the gleam...the dream...the not-quite scream that makes me rip off an arm, tie a shirt around it and wave it violently in the air like GOOOOOOOOOO TEAM!

Naoko is raging and incomprehensible. Aren't we almost all, in these shaky fiscal times? We need money for food, gas, concerts, Snoopy, leggings, lodging. Enunciation suffers.

"Do You Happen To Know"--Etsuko's drumming is so on point that point had to kindly ask her to move a bit to the left so it could breathe. Pop that is immediate, warm, and sharp.

"Capybara"--Cowgirls with backbone sing 'bout barrel-shaped rodents with webbed feet. Do you think all the animals Shonen Knife have serenaded over 27 years really appreciate their efforts? I mean, I'm sure an underappreciated creature like the capybara is deeply grateful for the affectionate attention, but do you imagine similar thankfulness from bison? Hell no. Bison are looking out for bison.

"An Old Stationary Shop"--This song is about a stationary shop that has some years on it.

Free Time is the perfect name for this album. 'Cause SK got plenty of both. Breathing out the jive and breathing in the love. They eat a gallon of Rocky Road ice cream once a week, three spoons deep in that bitch, and feel no apprehension, shame, guilt or remorse.

"Monster Jellyfish"--Rambunctious, ramshackle, and who cares what jellyfish think? Stingy bastards, ruining beach experiences. Not to fret; Etsuko's got the death roll down. Smash 'em, smash 'em, smash 'em with yer fist!

"P.Y.O."--Pretty Young Oysters? No.

Purse Your Ovaries? No.

Pick Your Own? Yes.

This one's made to be listened to with a fellow Knife-head (even if they don't know they are yet) and sing along with, even if the rousing chorus occurs only in a hastily-assembled playground of your own mind.

Pick your own what? Berries. "Cranberry, strawberry, blueberry, blackberry, gooseberry, Chuck Berry." Oh Naoko.

"Love Song"--Uninspired title, but listen. No hitting the wall on Free Time. "I don't want cheap love songs/But people in the world like to listen to love songs/I don't know why/Maybe I have a strange mind." The chorus is so fabulous it's practically creme-filled: "I need you/I want you/Musty phrases embarrass me."

What makes this song extra amusing is its resemblance to early Beatles records--namely chord structure and vocal harmonies--the lyrics of which were packed sick with "musty phrases" of yearning and devotion.

"Star"--How you gonna be a star without love songs? The problem is the star that longs to shine alone, that sees the congregation of a constellation as compromise. Gaseous and distant, indeed.

After a few pleasant but average full-lengths, Shonen Knife delivered the greats with Free Time. This doesn't bode well for the next album, as the band have not to my ears released back-to-back powerhouses since Pretty Little Baka Guy and 712 but I can't know that for sure, can I?. Naoko's still so damned determined to live every second of her life in thrall to rock and roll, she may surpass herself with the next one. To quote the legendary Japanese comedian Hosei Yamasaki: "It's a surprise. Look forward to it."

A Fifth Day of the Factory: The Music of Shonen Knife

Whenever a Shonen Knife post appears on this blog, it's like a fresh batch of lemon cookies in Antarctica. That's not me tooting my own writerly horn, that's just the natural conclusion I've come to.

The first such post was a review (and upload) of the Knife's legendarily scarce Minna Tanoshiku cassette, followed months later by a live review. Most ambitious of all was "Four Days of the Factory", both a career overview and discography review. Every one of these offerings brought grateful comments and emails from Knife Collectors worldwide; the Minna post even earned a Wikipedia link that continues to pay dividends in daily traffic.

Two fans were nice enough to send me rare Shonen tunes in return. First, I received a fantastic compilation disc featuring some hard-to-get covers, singles, and soundtrack tunes. A month and a half later, the post brought a gift that necessitated I take the work suit out of mothballs and tally-ho my ass back to the factory for another day: Shonen Knife's latest album.

Fun! Fun! Fun! (July 2007, Blues Interactions Japan)

1. 重力無重力
2. Barnacle（ふじつぼ）
3. Flu（インフルエンザ）
4. Ramones Forever
5. Las Vegas
6. Birthday
7. ポップコーン(Popcorn)
8. クッキーたべたい (I want to eat cake!)
9. みなみのしま (Everyone's island)
10. おやすみ(Goodnight)

The album cover reminds me of the hysterical Japanese variety show Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!!, which for over a decade has provided seemingly endless proof that we as Americans really settle for a safe sort of comedy, bowdlerized by politically correct finger-wagging and the rampant litigiousness of the easily aggrieved. Getting teabagged by young boys is but the least of it, friends. Come to think, why haven't the girls covered this song yet? Tomato Head needs to get them going on that, pronto.

"重力無重力"--Translation, anyone? No English words pop up on the lyrics sheet scanned for me in the package (thank you!). Whatever the subject, this first song is frizzled and frazzled punkish pop, a hearty bite of funnel cake post-Tilt-a-Whirl.

"Barnacle"--Hearkens right back to the Burning Farm days with a simple tale about an animal. Here, Naoko animates the titular crustacean with a sincere hope that it will somehow grow beyond just a free ride on a crab. However, "it couldn't escape from its fate" and ended up in the trash along with the crab post-grub. "Its hope didn't turn into reality." It's a metaphor, right? Sure. A metaphor for people who over-allegorize song lyrics.

"Flu"--Having heard this live, I knew this would be a barnstormer on record. It's in the classic vein of "Shonen Knife goes metal, bananas" tracks such as "Antonio Baka Guy", "Buddhas Face" and "Mosquitoes" but the new facts of Knife Life impact the formula profoundly. Only Naoko remains from the original lineup, with new Knife Etsuko upon the throne. In addition to youth and heart-skipping cuteness, she brings loose feet and hands to the party, providing a beat that skips with chin aloft under Naoko's infectious barrage.

"Ramones Forever"--This feels like a culmination for Shonen Knife. The Ramones provided such obvious inspiration to three unassuming girls from Osaka that just their continued existence seems like a sublime tribute; their undying devotion to making music that sets off a rainbow display of fireworks inside the hearts and minds of all who open up to it seems an unfuckwithable answer to the question, "Where the Ramones really that important?"

"I'll never forget/They are the best." That's all Eddie Vedder needed to say.

"Las Vegas"--A dichotomy for sure. Can you imagine li'l ol' Shonen Knife enjoying themselves in the Land That Decency Forgot? "Even if you say it's decadent/I don't mind 'cause it's fun." Slot machines are just shiny land-roaming bananafishes to Naoko.

"Birthday"--The Beatles song it is not. While having Naoko's daughter take a vocal turn here is "aww" and all, it's not a song that really grabs me.

"Popcorn"--There ain't a goddamn thing the matter with popcorn. The song or the food. It's just common sense. The key is expansion: too much heat too quickly leaves partially popped corn with hard centers; too little heat too slowly, it won't pop at all. Shonen Knife has a history of rich, heavy, full bags.

"I Want to Eat Cake!"--From the sound of it, a sludgy cake with the icing thick and sloppy. German Chocolate, perhaps? Best part is the sudden ascension into the soundtrack from some universe-spanning video game still stuck somewhere in the recesses of Shigeru Miyamoto's mind.

"Everyone's Island"--This is...OK. Average. Especially compared to the rejuvenated stuff that's come before. It's like playing Yar's Revenge immediately after Super Mario Galaxy.

"Goodnight"--A ballad with soft "little drummer girl" percussion and some delayed guitar work that sends precise, icy signals off the soul satellites. A gorgeous way to end it.

Verdict overall? Fun! Fun! Fun! is not a retread of what has come before, although it relies on the power of personality to merely stretch, bounce and in general frolic within firmly established boundaries and still make it sound like the best shit no music magazine or site puts on a year-end "Best Of" list because well jeez, doesn't that Arcade Fire record just scream innovative? Considering the magnificence of the Shonen template, diminishing this album on some sniveling charge of "no new ground broken here, move along folks" is either childish or brick-headed, take your pick.

There exists those listeners who demand progress of all musicians in all genres at all times. This is not only impossible--thus assuring plenty opportunity for indignation in print, on the Internet, and during songs you're trying to hear at a gig--but unfair. Unfair in the extremis to both artist and fan.

One of my favorite hip hop albums of the past several months is Ritual of Battle by Army of the Pharaohs. Like their equally fantastic debut, The Torture Papers, it consists of verses depicting typical genre braggadocio, almost-cartoonish violence, surprising references (from Lars Ulrich to Eddie Brock to Billy Dee Williams) and even some thoughtful wordplay. The beats are uniformly epic, be they driven by samples of furtive strings, Russian choirs, or filtered prog-rock. As a whole, it's hard to deny. Yet many have, decrying the "predictable" subject matter and "tired" production. Given more of same, they suddenly reject what previously they found irresistible. A listener that has moved on and wants more to take from music is one thing. But to expect (or even demand) concurrent growth in the artist is ridiculous. The creative impetus is too unique to set to a schedule. Accept or reject what it births, but to second-guess the very process is purest folly.

If you are a Shonen Knife wondering if you should pay the import price for this album, I ask: did you like Genki Shock? Heavy Songs? Yeah? Then put your money where your mouse is. I know I am.

Shonen Knife

Four Days of the Factory: The Music of Shonen Knife (Day 4)

1997-2007

Wherein the girls lose a major label record deal and one-half of the songwriting team.

Brand New Knife (March 1997, Big Deal)

You got some brand new roller skates, I got a brand new knife...

So long, Virgin! Bye bye Svengali Porrazzo! Tin-eared scummo!

Welcome back, natural Knife!

"Explosion"--Very standard punky popsicle with a chorus that yearns for that great ice cream truck in the sky. And see, far be it from me to look for clues following the bands first release after their failed attempt at world domination, but...

Explosion! explosion!
if I leave it as it is and break away
Explosion! explosion!
I cant wait. there is no time anymore

Im very hungry. bring me something to eat
Im getting angry. destroy everything.
its like a battle field

"Wind Your Spring"--Gentle, sparkling pop with heartfelt lyrics almost hysterical in their basic truth. Another SK song that creases your face with a mile-smile, but it's pulling at your strings, not just nudging your sense of the ridiculous.

"The Perfect World"--Michie is right at home in this new, thoughtful milieu. "I listen to music to know that I am not alone/I read books to know that I am not alone." An American band does this, it charts high. Guaranteed.

"ESP"--Ah, back to the upbeat par usual. But the band takes care to not let the proceedings loosen up too much.

"Loop di Loop"--Gorging on carnival rides and food. It's 48 degrees outside right now and I want elephant ears. You see my dilemma!

"Wonder Wine"--Chords fall like ice sheets from roof slopes onto the pavement. Some unreal harmony on the choruses across this whole album.

"Magic Joe"--Hey, bulldog! You're the ugliest canine I ever seen. But Shonen Knife possess some of the most beautiful souls I ever heard.

"Fruits and Vegetables"--The pillow-soft backing vocals are a treat, but eh. First bump.

You'll notice throughout that I've kept other reviewers out of the equation, 'cause frankly, they all repeat themselves worse than they accuse Shonen Knife of the same thing. But for the BNK review on Amazon.com by one John Chandler, I make this notable exception:

"Fruits & Vegetables" is delightful, but they might want to shy away from food songs--that's Cibo Matto's turf.

Excuse me? Cibo Matto's first album was in 1995; Shonen Knife were doing songs about food far back as '83, and don't forget that nine years before Cibo Matto came out, SK recorded the greatest song ever about edibles, "I Wanna Eat Choco Bars". Journalists never do their fuckin' homework.

"Tower of the Sun"--The dual guitar intro is striking, and guess this song (another mid-tempo sway) needed the verve.

"Keep On Rockin'"--No band should be able to pull this off. Look at that title; any group in this day and age is going to stuff three minutes jelly-tight with irony and self-aware musings. But not Shonen Knife. They totally want to keep on rockin'. It's what they do. Unfortunately for listeners, they seem to be trying too hard, and the end result is like Spinal Tap meets the 5.6.7.8.'s.

"Frogphobia"--A classic jangly chord progression that gives off a whiff of Burning Farm. People who don't bop and bob and shimmy-shake to this song are one more rape-invoking turn at Halo 3 from helpless.

"Buddha's Face"--Another in a series that includes "Antonio Baka Guy" and "Cobra vs. Mongoose"; hold your horns up, f'real this time. The words concern eyeballs, melted brains and fat rats. "You've gone too faaaaaaaar this time". Gulp.

Believe it or not, this mosaic of wretchedness and damnation comes straight from the brain of Naoko.

"One Week"--I could totally see this on an episode of Sesame Street, with a group of kids playing soccer. Just cut out the end, where the girls repeat the title incessantly in feral Yoko Ono style shrieks. Which is the best part about it, so sucks for the kids.

Happy Hour (June 1998, Big Deal)

"Shonen Knife Planet"--So B-52's, this. Wild spacey self-referencing samples and the heartwarming motto, "Peace, love and Shonen Knife". Some say Naoko's naive, derivative, a shameless aper and stereotype-reflector who gives nothing back of substance.

WELL SHE ISN'T!

"Konnichiwa"--Look! In the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a Flying V! So undeniable, so free, so buzzsaw, it is still the guaranteed first song of their concerts ("Welcome to our show/Let's have a good time tonight"). Drywall rockets itself from my bedroom walls when I play this on the stereo. Paint peels and a half-full water bottle vibrates toward the edge of a desk. Snatch it up, finish it off, get back to bein' a dork. I was playing Nintendo Wii when this song started up, and immediately the console switched from my golf game and automatically started creating Shonen Knife Miis. The Yamano sisters are gonna kick my ass in tennis.

"Cookie Day"--Ah crap, it's ska. Except it doesn't suck. That melody flip is so Fab. I let Snoopy peep this song and of course he loved it, but was careful to add that, "For some of us, every day is Cookie Day."

"Hot Chocolate"--Dig the pots-and-panned guit.

"Sushi Bar"--Remember the Presidents of the United States of America? 'Bout '95/96 or so, they had that pair of novelty goofball songs, "Lump" and "Peaches"? And printed media always abbreviated their name--POTUSA--and stoners giggled? Yeah. Anyway, they help out here on the chorus. Highlight of their collective life, no question, 'cause this refrain is so strikingly populist and inspirational.

"Fish Eyes"--Michie woke up one day with the eyes of a fish, and more songwriting talent than your favorite band.

"Banana Chips"--A clap-ecstatic rave-up with lyrics that pretty much sum this band up. "Banana chips for you/Banana chips for me/In the afternoon, banana chips and tea".

The Youtube vid for the Japanese version of this track features three pages of comments, the most telling being "I swear Shonen Knife must be high when they come up with this stuff." Nah, believe it or not, a band just made something creative and crazy and was sober throughout. I know, weird. It's what happens when you love to do something so much the natural rush through your central nervous system shoots the same (legal, free) chemicals we all have in our bodies up into the brain and sets off your imagination. Try it.

"Dolly"--Sleepy acoustic; sounds like a ship in a bottle perched on some too-high shelf.

"Jackalope"--Porno-wah and seeping organ. Passable postcard punk.

"Gyoza"--You listening, Cibo Matto? Y'all were good, but Shonen Knife is for the children! The hyperactive, sugar-shocked, bad TV-addicted children!

"Catch Your Bus"--There's something about the beginning that tugs at my hippocampus. The persistent notes over three-chord splash. I just can't place it! Very of its decade. Shonen Knife should write a song about a hippopotamus going to college.

"People Traps"--"Any number of people traps/In society". I feel you, KnifeFam. Help me stay safe.

"His Pet"--It's like "Iron Man", but not that good, now. I love when the Knife gets heavy with recently-sliced fudge, but the vocal tricks are uncalled for.

"Daydream Believer"--In the vein of "Top of the World", but c'mon--they were practically made to cover this. They service it like a South Prospect Street hooker. Is it superior to the original? Is Japanese food superior to Chinese? Yeaaahhh.

Strawberry Sound (February 2000, Universal/MCA)

The first phase of Shonen Knife is over; after Happy Hour, Michie Nakatani left the band. It is assumed the split was amicable. With a band so notoriously reticent, assumptions are often all you can make.

The transformation from three- to two-piece after 18 years did not stagger the sisters. They took the departure of their friend as an opportunity to do something critics increasingly derided them for not doing. They expanded their sound and experimented with instruments beyond the typical guit-bass-drums setup. The finalized album would be their best since Baka Guy.

"Side 1"--Nine-second intro. Dunno what video game they jacked for this, but I wanna play it!

"Buggy Bug"--Devil-running bass and a pest of a guitar pattern burrows deep into the brain. The solo departs from the clean lines and note-mirroring they're known to rely on, a maelstrom that implies some sick vermin orgy.

"Wild Life"--Smart and speedy...and in Japanese. Baby baby, fallin' in love...

"Nya Nya"--The title is the unrelenting hook, and a welcome recall of those "don't-give-a-fig" 80s, when SK would just throw some walkie-talkie transmission in a song about the solar system, or quote a department store catalogue and defy you to deny the validity of it all.

"Gokiburi"--Detective John Shaft races to the scene in a pink Cadillac, stopping by a fire hydrant in front of Kim's Music. He looks down and sees not spurting water but a pile of cockroaches streaming into, out of, and around a discarded taco. "This shit ain't fit for evidence control!" he spits out in undisguised disgust. "I'm-a hit up that Shonen Knife concert and then come back here and canvas the motherfuckin' neighborhood. Bitch betta have my Merzbox."

"Super Big Black Bass"--Not reminiscent of the Let's Knife original. It's faster, louder, and is in Japanese. Amazing how the band just hops back and forth from style to style on this album, from gnarled rock to playful roll.

"CM Song"--Hilarious. A parody of Japanese advert music that sounds like a sped-up sample of cats copulating on a Casio. The cincher is Naoko's whispered hook, "This is the CM song", completely aware of how brain dead everything sounds.

"Side 2"--We have now stepped into a New Age bookstore/massage parlor.

"Punk Rock Star"--Pithy. No, I don't have a lisp.

"Sesame"--Sounds like a Brand New Knife castoff but better. Naoko forgets better hooks than most songwriters these days have committed to record. This one is so deeply embedded in my brain I can smell the metal.

"Kaiki Game"--James Bond is back in the Orient! You Only Live Knife.

"Chinese Disco"--Clubby-type track. Cool.

"Mosquitoes"--"I am the mosquito sacrifice!" Holy crap on a crutch. As close as Shonen Knife will ever get to Slayer. You need to plunk down the 40-50 bucks an import copy will run you right now.

(And if that lightning-gallop drum part sounds too proficient to be Atsuko, well, it is...the late Mana "China" Nishiura hopped onto the stool for this one. She would later spend three years as the group's touring drummer.)

"Mayonnaise Addiction"--After the disorienting, stimulating "Mosquitoes", any subsequent track is going to sound weaker and non-sweaty. Even this nice Rubber Soul nod.

"Synthesizer"--Like Alan Parsons, but minus the games people play. Pure interplanetary economics. Naoko explained it thusly:

"It was 1990, the economic situation in Japan was very good. "Flower Expo '90" was held in Osaka. There was an entertainment using water (like Disneyland's water show) at the Expo. "Synthesizer" was inspired by the background music of the water show! And, around 1990 was in the middle of the good economical situation in Japan. Many companies spend much money to promote such kinds of events. I wrote this song in Boom to Bust years."

Candy Rock (March 2003, Warner Indies Network)

The most elusive Shonen Knife album ever! That was released on CD, I mean!

"Mass Communication Breakdown"--Stripped of extraneous instrumentation, the Knife are once more exemplars supremo of the emosawa-powah trio template. Listeners amused by "Engrish" will be disappointed, as this and all subsequent songs are sung in the band's native tongue.

"Messy Room"--Can you imagine a member of SK ever trashing a room in anger? Even after the 500th interview asking them what touring with Nirvana was like, I can't imagine they'd do anything worse than hurl an empty pudding cup against a wall, or maybe snap a bare Satay stick in half.

"Wonder Land"--Hey, dude! Sweet and misty, the love before the love of your life.

"Walrus"--A rave-up with milk and Goldfish. Calvin Johnson's baritone walking alongside Naoko on the chorus is worth a Snicker snack.

"Virtual Reality"--So yeah, the ladies are fighting to keep their own interest piqued, much less mine. Sometimes you just need to knock back a few shots before you get on the merry-go-round, right?

"Crossword"--Far and away the highlight of Candy Rock is this Atsuko-sung ode to the last dream Charlotte ever had: Wilbur cured cancer, then followed it up by banning bacon, thereby cementing his status as the most divisive creature who ever walked the planet Earth.

"Doubts"--Can you imagine a member of SK ever experiencing doubt? Maybe over whether or not to order the orange swirl or chocolate swirl. Early Cars vibe, hold the keys. Chill out and just wait for the report of knuckles against wood.

"Monkey Brand Oolong Tea"--Lockstep, lacks spunk.

I can't urge you to hunt this one down. Maybe hope that someone will upload "Crossword" on YT.





Heavy Songs (October 2003, Confidential)
"A Map Master"--More lovingly regurgitated Ramones, dealing with difficulty reading directions. Irresistible.

"A.A.A."--Or, "Ah Ah Ah". More accurately, Eh Eh Eh.

"Golden Years of Rock 'n' Roll"--Some Knife collectors on the Internet acted like Michie's exit was akin to finding out Naoko was a wartime geisha. Total hogwash.

I got news my favourite band
Would go on a reunion concert tour
So I went to a ticket agency
It was very high priced
But it's okay, it might be a precious time for me
It's all right, I can't wait to go

I took out their old records
From deep inside my closet
But my old record player
Didn't work very well
So I bought their newly released greatest hits CD
Oh how nice, now I'm ready for the show

Rock, rock
I don't hear rock music anymore
Rock, rock
All I need is .....
Rock, rock
I don't want techno anymore
Rock, rock
All I need is .....
Hello, golden years of rock n' roll
Welcome back to the twenty-first century

Finally the day of the concert came
And I was at the big arena
The band appeared on the stage
They look different than before
What happened to their long hair and slender bodies?
I was disappointed by their looks

But their live performance was
Fantastic, everybody there had fun
Two hours later, the show was over
I hurried over to buy something
Then I got a cool black short-sleeved tee shirt
Anyway, the music made me so happy

Cheer up! Cheer up!
Rock will never die
Cheer up! Cheer up!
Rock forever

Wow...I don't even know how much I would co-sign that sentiment, but they're forcing me to believe it. Nothing to decode (and you know how much I love my metaphor pin), nothing to feel ambivalent about. MWAUH!

"Rubberband"--Samples a comical rubberband effect. Powerful!

"Heavy Song"--Not really, though. Mournful organ and tapped cymbals, loping and hazy.

"A Boogie Monster"--Who ate a map master. I think. Maurice Sendak told that story before, anyway.

"Mushroom Hair Cut"--By-the-numbers rockabilly. What the hell happened to the "Strawberry Sound"?

"Whatever"--Legendary among fans as the first song penned (and sung) by Atsuko. It is cool, but goddamn y'all, curb ya dogs.

"Pigmy Jerboa"--Always makes me think of ex-Swan Jarboe. The piano doesn't though, very light on its feet and unjarring.

"An Elephant Insect"--This song features Ron Sexsmith, but shut up a second. A couple weeks ago Patrick and I watched an episode of Mythbusters where the hosts, Adam and Jamie, sought to either confirm or bust the myth that elephants are scared of mice. Setting up shop in the African wild, they rigged a dung with string so that when the pachyderm approached, they would yank the dung away to reveal a white mouse that had been hiding underneath. And wouldn't you know, that elephant backed off. Crazed.

"Computer Language"--A flashback to the morphing, exploratory sounds displayed on the last album, all found sound and hoarded menace pushed to the limits.

"Mango Juice"--A parenthetical tribute to George Harrison, who had recently passed. The udu strains now serve as the bands intro music at their gigs. Seiichi Yamamoto took time out of a daily schedule of seventeen gigs and four studio sessions to add some guitar flourishes.


Genki Shock (April 2006, Glue Factory)

Glue Factory? Isn't that where you send past-prime horses?

Atsuko does double duty (bass/drums) on all but four songs, when future official member Etsuko Nakanishi takes over. For a tidbit that's sure to impress some people, Dean Wareham of Galaxie 500 adds vocals on the next-to-last song.

The liners state it plainly: "No synthesizers".

Yeah, 'cause their presence totally fucked up Strawberry Sound! I don't know why they feel the need to offer that disclaimer.

"Introduction"--The refrain of "Big big, big cat!" mixed low for a half-minute or so. A self-solving mystery.

"SPAM"--A song decrying the enlarged penile horrors of "Speeuhyam" emails.

"Jeans Blue"--Meh to the feh.

"Anime Phenomenon"--Reminiscent of "Quavers", minus the deity-deafening drums. Shonen Knife doing a song called "Anime Phenomenon" was as inevitable as the new Wu-Tang album totally ruling.

"Spider House"--Heavy and pretty. There's mayonnaise on this grilled cheese sandwich, what?

"My Magic Glasses"--Your Average B-Side.

"The Queen of Darkness"--Charming, for sure. Brooding axe chops that make way for lollipop licks.

"Forest Walk"--To the C-side.

"A World Atlas"--Very helpful, one would imagine, to a map master. Compass bass provides respite.

"Broccoli Man"--Sounds like a smokey club where Shonen Knife are opening for a syringe that does spoken word.

"Rock Society"--That bassline is the freshest thing here.

"Under My Pillow"--Do I like it or not? I can't...D-side.

"Giant Kitty"--Ah, so that's where you got the intro from! Always recommended to end the album with the best track, even if it's not so advisable to have it be so far ahead of every other song it's like a different band showed up at the studio. Felines worldwide purr their appreciation at this buzzsaw homage. (And thank you, Naoko, for letting me sing the chorus from the crowd in DC last month.)

Fun! Fun! Fun! (2007, Blues Interactions Japan)




The 30-second snippets I heard on a Japanese online store sounded instantly more promising than Genki Shock, and seeing "Flu" and "Ramones Forever" live in November just made me antsier to hear the entire album. When I do, I'll put in a review.

----------------------------------------------------

The moral of the Shonen Knife story is that over 14 albums, the "Osaka Ramones" can be safely said to have not overstayed their welcome. Nor can the charge of "samey" be thrown at them and actually stick.

The first three albums and Strawberry Sound are positive must-owns (even with the latter's hefty import price). None, bar Candy Rock, should be absolutely avoided.

I hope this has opened your eyes and ears a bit to the wonder world that is Shonen Knife. Or as I like to call them, Musical Velcro.

Four Days of the Factory: The Music of Shonen Knife (Day 3)

1990-1996

Wherein the American record industry does some funky math in the wake of the Nirvana explosion; decides Japan+female+catchy+Kurt="niche dollas"; and tries to dilute one of the most singular bands of all-time for the sake of a new guest home in the south of France.

1. Lazybone
   
2. Ice Cream City
3. Baggs
4. Kappa Ex
5. Antonio Baka Guy
6. Spider
7. Secret Dance
8. I'm a Realist

(tracks 1-5 recorded live in Osaka, 1/21/90; 5-8 live 4/17/82)

When Gastanka/Rockville reissued Baka Guy in December 1990, bonuses were dependent on format. People who bought the vinyl got the first 5 live songs and three covers: "Chains" (by the Supremes), "Suzy is a Headbanger" (Ramones, duh) and "I Wanna Be Your (Wo)man" (Beatles). You gotta hand it to these women, when they go for the covers, they don't shy from stepping to the biggest cheese wheels in the fridge. I am sad and peeved to report I still I have heard none of these songs, and scour Ebay for this LP like Jim O'Rourke for rare Japanese psych-folk from the 60s.

The CD and cassette, on the other hand, got all 8 live tracks; a fair trade-off, I'd have to think.

The offerings from 1990 are a window into the cozy world of a band of secretaries fresh off a hero's welcome in the previously-thought impenetrable American rock scene. The highlight is "Baggs" a crabby-sounding toss that namedropped Louis Vuitton a full decade and change before Kanye West. Atsuko's drumming is not only the best performance you'll hear from her in any capacity, but its insistent shuffle still sounds current amid a wealth of West Coast dance-punk racket-gangs.

The '82-ers are naturally inferior in terms of recording quality, but are top-to-bottom essential nonetheless. Dinky and doinky, not too far from sounding like three tipsy bridesmaids who just threw the wedding band off the dais so they could show off what Rocket to Russia taught them.

Okay, so what did it teach them? Guts. Honesty as godhead. Rock star as dayjob-tripper. It's audible (hell, tangible) in the woozy giggle of "Spider", the literally not-yet-up-to-speed punk rock that is "Secret Dance", and the scraped-raw "Realist". Shonen Knife would never show that much bone through the skin again.

712 (Nippon Crown, July 1991; Rockville, August 1991; MCA/Victor, November 1995; Oglio, January 2005)

1. "Shonen Knife"
2. "Lazybone"
3. "Diet Run"
4. "Blue Oyster Cult"
5. "Rain"
6. "The Luck Of The Irish"
7. "My Favorite Town"
8. "Faith Healer"
9. "Redd Kross"
10. "White Flag"
11. "Superstar"
12. "Expo '90"
13. "Fruit Loop Dreams"
14. "The Moon World"
15. "Baggs"
    

So the Americans have gotten their minimum wage record collector claws on the Knife. Hooray for wider distribution in the States, but boo to uneven mixes between the Japanese and U.S versions. For whatever reason, the mixes differ for "The Moon World" (more prominent keyb on the Rockville verz), "Blue Oyster Cult" and most tragically, "Redd Kross" (see below).

"Shonen Knife"--The blare of an alarm clock followed by Naoko's diamond-precious "Good morning, Shonen Knife freaks!" Well, they are now certainly aware they have a following. Whether or not they are clever enough to pull off joyous self-aware songwriting is entirely up to the listeners. Naoko raps over the isolated drums from "Don't Bring Me Down", if that's any indication.

Ultra eccentric super cult punk pop band
Shonen Knife
Nick Lowe, Costello, Beatles, Redd Kross
Ramones, Buzzcocks, Shonen Knife is a cult band

There is a cause for alarm here beyond the introduction; how are they going to handle the transition from having mole landlords to being the recipients of a collective hairy taco slobjob from the cream of the cool? Will celebration of their endearing credulousness doom them to novelty status?

"Lazybone"--A nifty Beatles rewrite and dare I say one of the great choruses of the last 25 years.

You don’t need to be serious
You don’t need to be a walrus
You don’t need to be nervous
You don’t need to be an eggman
Uh uh uh

"Diet Run"--Why is Naoko credited as "Nancy" in the liners? I hope it was consensual. Oh oh, back to the Japanese! "On the diet run/Goodbye, superfluous flesh". I bike 3 miles a day with this shit blaring in my gangsta headphones.

"Blue Oyster Cult"--It's actually about oyster poisoning. "Oyster brings evil upon me". Yeah, eat that, Meltzer. Pared-back and enchanting, fun for the whole fat family!

"Rain"--The inevitable Beatles cover, with Redd Kross brutha Steve McDonald on the assist. This is actually not a shambling disgrace, despite what reviews written by curmudgeonly self-appointed guardians of the Liverpudlian lad legacy may say. These are the same people who think Lennon's songs on Abbey Road are better than McCartney's. Bleh.

"The Luck of the Irish"--Now it's Jeff McDonald and Naoko duetting on a Lennon/Ono song, and yeah, I don't really know what's going on or why it belongs on anything other than a Tater Totz record.

"My Favorite Town"--It ain't East St. Louis! Michie restrung her bass with rubberbands for this one, I see.

"Faith Healer"--Written by the band Big Dipper just for the Knife, this mid tempo charger is a two-faced beast. Thankfully they didn't fuck up the guitar mix for this song.

"Redd Kross"--Here is how this song is supposed to sound. It's supposed to make you jump and sing and shout and hoot and speak in tongues and twist yourself apeshit with arms towards the heavens as your feet pound the ceiling of Hell. The tension gathered up in this song is like hoarded trick-or-treat candy that you can't wait to unwrap and gorge upon before bed. You'll get sick! You'll eat more in the morning!

The Rockville version is absolutely insipid in comparison, practically no guitar oomph whatsoever. Who dropped the ball and was it promptly picked up and thrown at their heads as punishment?

"White Flag"--How you gonna put the two band tribute songs back-to-back when the second one just isn't very good (band and song)? And no, Michie's rapid reiteration of "White Frag! White Frag!" doesn't strike me as funny. Slap yourself.

"Superstar"--Lamentably, not a Carpenters cover (that would come later). Cool song, but fails to transcend the room it's in. Vintage Knife transcends the fucking house.

"Expo '90" & "Fruit Loop Dreams"--Pairing these together because they feature lyrics written by Yankee outsiders: Steve Davis and Bill "Pat Fear" Bartell. Behold what American men think Shonen Knife should be singing about. Bartell in particular needs a near-death experience for making Naoko sing shit like: "There's a big bird named Toucan Sam/With a pretty colored beak like a candy cane". "Expo" at least has a swift guitar hook going for it.

"The Moon World"--Bears a veryclose resemblance to "Riding on the Rocket" in both melody and subject matter, but features keyboards and wild yelling. I want to find the Japanese lyrics so I can sing along with the chorus while dancing with my Santa Snoopy.

"Baggs"--The Live In Japan version is galaxies better.

In case you're wondering about the title...

The album was named after the contraction of the Japanese words for the numbers 7 (nana), 1 (ichi), 2 (futatu), which, when contracted, sound like "na-i-fu." Naifu is the imported word in Japanese for "knife."

Let's Knife (Virgin 1992)

1. "Riding On The Rocket"
2. "Bear Up Bison"
3. "Twist Barbie"
4. "Tortoise Brand Pot Scrubbing Cleaner's Theme (Sea Turtle)"
5. "Antonio Baka Guy"
6. "Ah, Singapore"
7. "Flying Jelly Attack"
8. "Black Bass"
9. "Cycling Is Fun"
10. "Watchin' Girl"
11. "I Am a Cat"
12. "Tortoise Brand Pot Scrubbing Cleaner's Theme (Green Tortoise)"
13. "Devil House"
14. "Insect Collector"
15. "Burning Farm"
16. "Get The Wow"
17. "Milky Way"
    

Oh how friggin' colorful. At least their entire bodies are shown this time. As you can see, Branson's brain trust won the right to exploit the kooky Jap chicks! Man, it took Geffen seven whole minutes to get over that!

This album comes not quite one year after Kurt Cobain spent great chunks of interviews gushing over their purity and savant-brilliance. Anything that connected back to the giant pulsating Nirvana orb was seen as possibly profitable so milk that cow the best you know how.

Riding side saddle is executive producer Page Porrazzo. Off the name I could just tell he was an asshole.

The bulk of the material consists of re-recordings of their choicest early material. This is a good and bad thing.

"Riding on the Rocket"--First off, Atsuko was made a slave to a click track. While this makes for a steadier beat, it also makes for an ultimately sterile one as well. (Interestingly, 1992 also saw the release of Sonic Youth's Dirty, their final bid for major label gold; drummer Steve Shelley later confessed that master mixer Andy Wallace injected drum samples into the final mix to give the beats more "oomph".) Also, say goodbye to the clipped charm of the Japanese language.

Outsider meddling did birth some positives; mainly, the chunkier, sharper guitar sound. For the purposes of this blast off, the addition of a solo is cool and the fade out is a nice touch also.

Essential as a whistle in a bat cave, though.

"Bear Up Bison"--Well, bub, once your ears get acclimated to those robotic beats, and the sheeny, error-free vocals, you can appreciate that at least a great songwriter like Naoko Yamano has access to better equipment now.

"Twist Barbie"--But did it have to be so clean? Exactly how huge did Virgin think this would get?

"Tortoise Brand Pot (Sea Turtle)"--Spaghetti-western wistful.

"Antonio Baka Guy"--Hmm...needs more feedback. The English version now gives gender to the "guy", transforming it from shell to human male.

"Ah, Singapore"--Stripped of jittering percussion and decorated with Asian trapping and tinkles, this is the first "new classic" that improves on the original. Very pretty.

"Flying Jelly Attack"--Naoko and Michie harmonize very well.

"Black Bass"--Ah, a newie! I know someone who is not me that is brought to near-tears by this song. Only Naoko could make a fishing trip sound like visiting a grave site. The guitar motif also reminds me a bit of the Buoys' "Timothy"--just another twisted element.

Part that makes me want to wrap warm arms around the entirety of Japan for making possible these women of wonder: "Someone brought the black bass/To this lake from far away/Changing the biological distribution of the lake."

"Cycling Is Fun"--Just 'cause you can don't mean you should.

"Watchin' Girl"--Let Atsuko's heart shine through natural rhythm, not what you think a major label record should sound like! 'Cause the guitars on this are fuckin' ripping, and that chorus remains aflame.

"I Am a Cat"--When I was 15 and bought this CD, I listened to Naoko sing about a trip into some "timeless zone" where she found cat ears and whiskers and put them on her head and face, thereby transforming into a gentle dancing feline lost in extraterrestrial bliss. Now I just listen and think, "YouTube link, or it never happened."

"Tortoise (Green)"--Imagine the original, just without the slop and grit and quality.

"Devil House"--Listen for a peek of the old Knife ("Time warp time triiiiiiiiiiip!")

"Insect Collector"--Sweet song. Always has been.

"Burning Farm"--The chants are elongated and made more palatable to the average listener. The solos are certainly raunchier.

"Get the Wow"--

When you open my little box...Wow
Big surprise from me to you...Wow
Give it to you one more time...Wow
You're my friend so say it again...Wow
C'mon now we're gonna have a good party
Hey, let's eat some honey pie baby
Ooh, the sun is smiling today For you and me

Why, I ask you oh pervert, is this automatically about sex? Maybe Naoko has a little box with pie in it. Or jewelry. Or unmarked bills. I dunno, but stop making everything into one gigantic vagina metaphor!

Just enjoy a song so potent as to pass for a vaccination against death. The solo especially shows great understanding of melodic point/counterpoint.

"Milky Way"--Surf rock instro. Cool way to wrap it up.

Let's Knife was many fans first exposure, and to a generation weaned on scrubbed-clean, wiped-louder "alternative" music, it sounded fantastic. For those versed in baby Knife, though, it was still fun, but had a whiff of compromise to it that lingered.


Rock Animals (Virgin, January 1994)

1. "Quavers"
2. "Concrete Animals"
3. "Butterfly Boy"
4. "Little Tree"
5. "Catnip Dream"
6. "Tomato Head"
7. "Another Day"
8. "Brown Mushroom"
9. "Johnny Johnny Johnny"
10. "Cobra Versus Mongoose"
11. "Music Square"

Look closely at their faces; they don't believe what they're wearing, either.

Mixmaster Don Fleming vowed in interviews to keep the SK sound away from the generic, homogenized digital trap that the last record fell into, but the eight-track king was helpless to halt the Porrazzo Express in his thirsty quest to dilute this magical elixir!

"Quavers"--A love song that gets samey after a minute.

"Concrete Animals"--Okay, I forgive you. Once again, an innocent thing like animal statues in the park makes me want to cry. The chorus is practically begging for interaction with the inanimate objects. The bridge by itself deserves a statue, and at the base a plague to note Atsuko's fills.

"Butterfly Boy"--I know it's gonna make me come off like the raging SY fan girl I try so very hard not to be, but...Thurston Moore's fuzz-fuck playing on this is the highlight. I'm sorry.

"Little Tree"--Aural azure-blue. I half-expected "Save the Last Dance For Me" to break out.

"Catnip Dream"--Jeff Buckley did this song live. That's all I got.

"Tomato Head"--Too much tomato, not enough head.

"Another Day"--A piano-driven ballad. I don't feel that they were 100% into this.

"Brown Mushrooms"--Just leaving your influences out there to flap on your sleeve is fine, just so long as they don't overwhelm ya. This reeks of three weeks nonstop Nevermind on the stereo but retains the theurgic qualities of early SK: uncomplicated topic, unpretentious melody, fans ear for structure, and total fearlessness.

"Johnny Johnny Johnny"--Fit for sock hops and Grease sleepovers.

"Cobra versus Mongoose"--Biiiiiiiiiiiiiggggggg fight! Suggestive of "Antonio Baka Guy", what with the slooow rawk teased into a speed demon racer they keep together with scotch tape and butterscotch and butter and scotch. Naoko stays killin' me with that screwface snarl. And peep the fuckin' 80s hair metal solo! Loudness lives.

"Music Square"--What the hell? Oh, whoa, it's a harmonica. Sorry for the fright, but hearing a harmonica on a Shonen Knife song is like hearing an elephant bark.

The Birds and the B-Sides (Virgin, March 1996)

1. Heatwave, (Love Is Like)
2. Gomi Day
3. Top Of The World
4. Ice Cream City - (live)
5. Paradise
6. Little Tree (Vivaldi Vibe)
7. Space Christmas
8. Fruit Loop Dreams - (acoustic version)
9. Boys
10. Till The End Of The Day
11. Elmer Elevator
12. Don`t Hurt My Little Sister
13. Strawberry Cream Puff
14. Neon Zebra
15. Lazybone
16. Public Bath
17. I Wanna Eat Choco Bars
18. Redd Kross

"Well, Shonen Knife, we tried. We tried to sell America on three bubbly Asian chicks with Ramones aspirations and solid connections. We gave you gloss, we take the loss. We couldn't get enough milk out of you to drown a gnat! But you have one more album left to fulfill your contract, so we'll just haphazardly compile outtakes, covers and live tracks and then you can cream puff back to whatever candy house you ate your way out of."

"Heatwave"--Compact, swinging, but maybe a little too straightforward.

"Gomi Day"--Burpling keyboard flits over buried fuzz. "Gomi Day" is when the trash gets collected.

"Top of the World"--SK have made for an exceptional covers band, as the key to a memorable remake is for the artist to comprehend what they enjoyed about the original and then imbue it with their own personality, to adopt the song and mold it in their image. "Top of the World" would likely finish first on a "Best Shonen Knife Cover" fan poll (I'd vote for "Cherry Bomb"). It also appeared in a late '90s Microsoft ad and made the Retrocrush "100 Best Cover Songs of All-Time" list. This song is always smiles-time!

"Ice Cream City"--Live! Tonight! Germany! Weird hearing the English version.

"Paradise"--You put the Atsuko in the coconut...a rare turn at the mic for the Shonen gatekeeper, tackling a Nilsson song. So layered and ethereal it's hard to believe it's them.

"Little Tree"--Lusher than the original, and more playful. A #1 hit in a world that made any sense.

"Space Christmas"--This was actually a hit on the indie charts in the fucking United Kingdom, 1991. The girls bundle up their energy into a sturdy box wrapped with smartly-trimmed paper and a tight bow. The breakdown is pre-Stereolab sheep choir.

"Fruit Loop Dreams"--Outtake. Thetrash.

"Boys"--Atsuko used to steal the show when she'd sing this slinky Shirelles b-side from behind her kit. Shonen Knife probably wish they could go back to the 1960s and rule teenage culture. Songs like this prove they would have.

"Till the End of the Day"--A great Kinks cover marred only by Page Porrazzo's insistence on martial drumming that comes off as borderline fake-sounding. Back off, sleazeball. Please, please re-record this.

"Elmer Elevator"--Now sung in non-Japanese!

"Don't Hurt My Little Sister"--Ripped from a Beach Boys tribute album, and again featuring the lovely pipes of Atsuko Yamano. This is light-hearted but mature, with crazy replay value. Get ready to have this stuck in your head all day and night.

"Strawberry Cream Puff"--A true b-side.

"Neon Zebra"--A Sub Pop single that gallops into kaleidoscope blade gleam stuck between the teeth of the rainbow rider.

"Lazybone", et. al--Ever wondered what Shonen Knife sounded like opening up for Nirvana in late '91 during the latter's triumphant tour of the fucking United Kingdom? Well, stop it!

"Choco Bars" and "Redd Kross" in particular come off like they knocked the remaining teeth from every sneering punters gob. Tell the NME to go fuck itself.


Redd Kross Shonen Knife