I've been familiar with
the name Shonen Knife for many years. Back to the early days of the IMDB
message boards (RIP), a common question would be what band was playing in a
certain movie scene, and often the answer was Shonen Knife. That was all I knew
until I recently saw a reference to them being influenced by the Ramones, and
then I had to check them out.
That was initially not
helpful. Listening to them cover Ramones songs on Osaka Ramones just
reminded me that I like the Ramones better, until "We Want the
Airwaves". I have to give credit where credit is due, and that is some
good guitar on there. (Also "Chinese Rock" worked for me, because I
don't think of that so much as a Ramones song as a "Who doesn't have a
cover of it" song.)
Instruments are very
respectable, but there is a softness in the vocal delivery that doesn't scream
punk at me. Because of that, Shonen Knife works better for me when they are
singing about food and animals, and just giving into the kawaii. "Like A Cat"
really works. "I Wanna eat Cookies" is such a simple, relatable
statement; how does the song turn so menacing? Is this the Black Sabbath
version of Cookie Monster? It's genius. "Good Night" is very
beautiful.
As easy as it is to sing
along about barnacles and capybaras, one of my favorites was a cover, "When
You Sleep". It is very distinct from the My Bloody Valentine original,
incorporating some doo-wop elements. Hearing that delivery while thinking of a
band named for a horror movie, well, I think I could really be down for an Osaka
Misfits album. Or for them touring with Reggie and the Full Effect. Or both.
They have been an active band since 1981 and are still going; there is room for
a few more twists.
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