Premier Rock Forum

The "Shonen Knife" compilation containing their first two albums is utterly essential pop music. "Pretty Little Baka Guy" is great too.

Mayfair wrote:I will always stick up for bands that outwardly enjoy what they do. Shonen Knife were one of those bands. Those women had a great time playing their music the two times I saw them. I was lucky enough to interact with them on one occasion and they were really very sweet, very happy to be here doing what they do, and full of joy. That is truly what it is all about, yes?I know jack shit about this band, but the older I get the more this becomes one of my standards for enjoying live music. If the band is genuinely happy as clams to be playing (See: Ted Leo's drummer, who smiles through entire sets and hits a ton besides), I'm happy to be watching them.

mmm....I saw once Agadoo (don't ask) and they seemed happier than a man who'd just unsheathed his old chap from an underage girl.b

Ivan Dobsky wrote:Saw them support Nirvana years ago. One of the worst shows I have ever seen. bwhat happened? why was it a bad show? did you break your arm? were you hungry? did kurt cobain urinate on you? would you describe the urine as grungy? because i can't imagine how you could be that unhappy with the music. unless you were expecting big black or something super gay like that. has anyone ever heard of these jackasses? they played my hometown once, and they didn't even have a drummer! totally sucked.

It was just before Nevermind came out. I missed the tour they did with Tad.They played mainly songs from Nevermind which to my mind is essentially Bleach watered right down for mass consumption. They did Negative Creep during which Kurt basically looked bored to the point where he was almost checking his watch, I seriously thought he was going to give up half way through it. 40 mins and it was all over. On top of that I had Captain America and Shonen Knife singing about Lollipops or something. With the exception of George Clinton & The P-Funk Allstarz, it was the biggest waste of money and let down ever.b

I used to have their albums. I guess my ex took them. Huh.They made fun, lighthearted pop music with oddball lyrics about a little tree growing in the garden and shit like that. I liked them and now I'm mildly annoyed that I don't have the records any more.

I went to see Shonen Knife on Saturday thanks to FM Tom D dropping a couple of tickets on me unexpectedly. I knew I liked what I'd heard of their records but I'd had reservations because I'm aware Naoko is the only original member left in the group. Thankfully it looks to have energised the group as a live unit. It was broadly equivalent to seeing The Ramones with CJ and Richie (I'm aware this never happened) in that both newer members put on a really good show and seem to enjoy being up there in a manner which suggests they're fully aware how awesome it is to play in Shonen Knife. In particular Ritsuko Taneda is basically every iconic rock bassist rolled into one, I could watch her for days and not get bored. They were also funny and charming people throughout the day.

I have their first two albums on MP3 saved somewhere. NC. Harmless pop music.

I went to see them last night in Birmingham. Really fun, great live band. Most of their songs are about food or animals. Not crap