Shonen Knife!

Live Review by Nathan Stafford



It’s a Big Fun Party Tonite! With Osaka, Japan’s #1 Super Group Shonen Knife in town for the first time since ‘07, the rock & roll is here to stay! Who cares that it’s Sunday? Who cares that it’s raining? Who cares that it’s cold outside? It’s nice and hott inside the Biltmore!

The night belongs to “Boy Knife”, but all 3 bands on the bill are amazing. We’re talking Apollo Ghosts, The Strange Magic and of course, a certain all-girl pop/punk trio that was releasing records when I was still in kindergarten.

Arriving early was a good idea, as I caught Apollo Ghosts dishing out some pretty cool minimalist rock, and a disco-Sasquatch number. I misunderstood that one too, but I still loved it. Local sextet The Strange Magic spilled its potion on the dancefloor next, giving everything & more that you’d expect from a big exploratory pop/rock ensemble. The crowd was eating up Kayoko’s eastern-themed pop stylings for some reason. Okay, I like where this thing is going.

And Now…. From across the Pacific…. They’ve been rocking your hearts for nearly 30 Years… It’s Shonen Knife!

Konnichiwa! Hitting the stage in their pastel super-hero outfits and devil-horns held proudly high, the lovely ladies otherwise known as The Osaka Ramones are here for one thing, and one thing only: “Banana Chips”!

“We are so short. You are so tall!” remarked guitarist/singer and sole original member Naoko Yamano. “We’ll make it up with our jumping!”

And they did! The whole crowd was jumping in fact, bopping and screaming along to catchy, straight-ahead winners ‘I Wanna Eat Choco Bars’, ‘BBQ Party’ and the biggest bang of the night, ‘Ramones Forever’.

What a performance! You wouldn’t believe how intense Shonen Knife is onstage! Slashing guitars, ba-booming bass, and a drummer who defies all laws of size & strength. Seriously, the talk of the town was this little drummer girl named Etsuko. She looked about 12-years-old, wore a big ol’ beautiful smile the whole time, and hit the skins so hard, I thought the kit was gonna fall apart on a blast beat! Bassist Ritsuko was feeding off the front row, and did a great job singing ‘Johnny Johnny Johnny’. Oh yeah!!!

Historically speaking, Shonen Knife hold a unique place in the Rock & Roll scriptures, winning over heavyweight fans like Red Kross, Sonic Youth, and their 1991 European tourmates, Nirvana. 15 albums, 6 EPs, tons of compilations and singles later, Shonen Knife still brings out droves and droves of dedicated, loving fans.

“Big! Big! Big! Cat!” How can you not sing along to those lyrics? There are 3 members of Shonen Knife, and there are 3 sides to a pyramid, so ‘Pyramid Power’ seems like a logical way to wrap up the set, I guess. You gotta love a band that pulls out the rock poses, jumping up and down, and saluting the fans right till the finish line. The End! That can’t be it though, can it? After a 45-second departure, the biggest little power trio from the east took the stage again, grabbing a souvenir photo op with the audience first.

“Everybody is so handsome and beautiful!”

Aww, geez. Thanks Naoko. One more song? Puh-leeeease?

Okay, okay. The chants of “Shonen Knife! Shonen Knife!” finally gave way to one more round of big, brash power chords and girly 3-part harmonies. ‘Antonio Baka Guy’ gave the crowd its ultimate satisfaction. True to form, the Shonen Knife trio stuck around afterwards to shake hands, high-five, and sign autographs for every waiting fan. The lineup nearly stretched out the door! There wasn’t a frowny-face in the house.

Shonen Knife continues along its North American tour, hitting Bellingham and Portland before a big Halloween show in California! The newest record “Super Group” is available through Good Charamel Records or on iTunes. The record is great, but you gotta see them live. If you missed out this time I hope the Candy Rock Fun won’t elude you again! Peace, Love and Shonen Knife!