(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)
The Shonen Knife are a trio from Osaka playing melodic and playful punk-rock in the style of the Ramones.
Burning Farm (Zero, 1983 - K, 1985 - Oglio, 2005) delighted more than one drunken punk with the parodic choruses of Tortoise Theme, Twist Barbie, A Day At The Factory.
Yama No Attchan (Zero, 1984 - Oglio, 2005) increased the dose of adolescent madness with Flying Jelly Attack, Insect Collector, Elmer Elevator, and Cycling Is Fun. Their technical ineptitude on their respective instruments means all songs sound like variations on the same melody and riff, but overall their albums remain a fun parody of the rock subculture of their generation.
The two albums were later combined on Shonen Knife (Gasatanka, 1990) with Watchin' Girl.
Pretty Little Baka Guy (Zero, 1986 - Gasatanka, 1990 - Oglio, 2005) made a sensational leap forward thanks to a breathtaking sequence of catchy, rhythmic, and lively little songs. I Wanna Eat Choco Bars, Public Bath, Ice Cream City, Burning Farm, Bear Up Bison, Riding On The Rocket are all classics of their live performances.
The rediscovery by Western audiences began with 712 (Rockville, 1991 - Oglio, 2005), a collection of calmer and more mature songs echoing countless hits of the 1960s. The semi-triumphal rap of Shonen Knife (citing the Runaways and the Monkees) is just the beginning of a series of public tributes to their friends and idols (comic for the Blue Oyster Cult in Caribbean style, epic for the Redd Kross in Go-Go's style). Lazybone and Expo '90 are the two deranged rock and roll bursts in the style of the Ramones that return to their origins, but the rest is a parade of disguises, from the eccentric exotic ballad in Kevin Ayers style of Fruit Loop Dreams to the David Peel-style roundelay of My Favorite Town Osaka, passing through a Superstar that resurrects English ye-ye girls like Dusty Springfield and Petula Clark (with the riff from La Bamba) and a The Moon World that evokes French ye-ye girls like Francoise Hardy and Sylvie Vartan.
With fame there came the moment to commercially sell the fruit of so much effort, and Let's Knife (Virgin, 1993) does nothing more than re-submit old songs from their repertoire played in a more modern way.
The highlights of Rock Animals (Creation, 1993) (Virgin, 1994), such as Quavers, Butterfly Boy, Brown Mushrooms, and Another Day, seem to point toward a less playful and spontaneous hard rock.
After the EP Brown Mushrooms and Other Delights and the anthology The Birds & The B-Sides, the new album Brand New Knife (Big Deal, 1997) was released, by far the best work of their career, even if the multiple gags on the album (Explosion, Fruits And Vegetables, Frogphobia, Wind Your Spring) are not as entertaining as in the past.
(Original English text by Piero Scaruffi)
Happy Hour (Big Deal, 1998) is another wacky carnival for children
where anything goes:
nonsense anthems like Shonen Knife Planet,
supersonic garage rave-ups like Konnichiwa and Banana Chips
(another ripoff of the Ramones),
ska novelties worth of the Dance Hall Crashers
like Cookie Day (one of their "creative" peaks) and Catch Your Bus,
catchy ditties reminiscent of 1960s female teens like Hot Chocolate and
Sushi Bar,
even funky dance grooves (Jackalope) and
Velvet Underground boogies (Gyoza).
Guitarist Naoko Yamano pens most of these lilting gems.
Happy Hour could be the ultimate party album: superbly pointless, but
irresistible.
Naoko Yamano kept repeating the same inane formula on
Strawberry Sound (Universal Victor, 2000),
Genki Shock (2005),
Super Group (2009)
and
Free Time (2010), whereas
Osaka Ramones (2011) was merely a collection of Ramones covers.
