Essentially the distilled essence of ’60s girl-group pop that has been Jiffypopped in a fuzzy, lo-fi punk Betty Crocker oven, legendary Japanese punk trio Shonen Knife have effectively channeled Ramones-styled three-chord trope for four decades now. Replacing the black leather and bowl haircuts with cotton candy and plushy stuffed animals, they swap sneering unapproachability with abrasive huggability. So, in a way, I guess you can call them the Powerpuff Girls‘ raccoony sisters. The album that introduced them outside of Japan back in the early ’90s was the deliciously wholesome Let’s Knife. While grunge was overtaking the US with its testosterone-fueled earnestness, these three punkers from Osaka were serving up songs about bison, gyoza, and how Cycling Is Fun. The late Kurt Cobain, who is credited with bringing them out of Japan to the Western music scene by having them as support on their Nevermind tour, even “cried like a 9-year-old girl at a Beatles concert” (yep, that’s an actual quote).
Let’s Knife never made it onto streaming services for one reason or another and the album is woefully out of print. So the only ways to listen to it is to hit eBay or cratedigging at record fairs, hoping to score it on vinyl or CD. So, Shonen Knife decided to make it much easier to access by faithfully re-recording the album and updating with better production while retaining the twee cheekiness. Revel in the pogo-pop of Flying Jelly Attack, the epic singalong of I Am A Cat, the Ramones-meets-Ronettes of Get the Wow and their perennial live anthem Twist Barbie. Post-irony and post-twee at its unfiltered finest, Shonen Knife have weathered four decades bucking trends, proudly and consistently wearing their DIY, Mondrian-print, retro futurism on their Powerpuff sleeves.
In celebration of Let’s Knife Re-Cut, Shonen Knife are hitting the road with Men At Work and Toad the Wet Sprocket in the US. The trio will also headline three special Osaka Ramones shows at NYC’s Le Poisson Rouge, Denver’s HQ, and Indianapolis’ Hi-Fi with set lists that highlight their love of punk icons Ramones. Let’s Knife Re-Cut is out today on physical formats via Good Charamel Records with streaming platforms following on July 15th.
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