Shonen Knife is a Japanese

pop-punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti-suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other pu ...

band formed in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

in 1981. Influenced by 1960s

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

s, pop bands, the

Beach Boys A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...

, and early punk rock bands such as the

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...

, the band crafts stripped-down songs with simple yet unconventional lyrics sung both in Japanese and English. The band has been credited with making "the international pop underground more international" by "opening it up to bands from Japan". They have also performed as a Ramones

tribute band A tribute act, tribute band or tribute group is a music group, singer, or musician who specifically plays the music of a well-known music act. Tribute acts include individual performers who mimic the songs and style of an artist, such as Elvi ...

under the name the Osaka Ramones. Guitarist/singer

Naoko Yamano is a Japanese musician, best known as a founding member, singer/guitarist, and primary songwriter for the pop-punk band Shonen Knife. She is the only member of the band to have remained throughout its entire history. After briefly working as a ...

is the only member to have remained with the band for its entire history; her sister

Atsuko Yamano (born February 22, 1964) is a Japanese musician, best known as a member of the pop-punk band Shonen Knife. She formed the band in 1981 at age 17, along with her sister Naoko Yamano and Michie Nakatani. In the first incarnation of the band she ...

was a founding member and, after a long hiatus, returned to the band in 2016. They have released 21 studio albums; their most recent album '' Sweet Candy Power'' was released in 2019. In the words of the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', "something oddly spellbinding occurs when deceivingly silly lyrics are sandwiched between a buoyant guitar and a rapid-fire, pop-punk drum kit. Which perhaps explains why the Japanese female alternative rock/pop punk trio Shonen Knife is still singing songs about cookies, sushi, jelly beans, and, of course, banana chips."

Biography

Formation and early years

Shonen Knife was formed in December 1981 in

, Japan, by

on guitar and vocals; her college friend

Michie Nakatani (born October 8, 1961) is a Japanese retired musician, best known as one of the founding members of the Japanese pop-punk band Shonen Knife. Biography Nakatani was born in Osaka, Japan, the only child of a homemaker mother and an accountant ...

on bass, keyboards, and vocals; and Naoko's then 17-year-old sister

on drums. Naoko and Michie had both worked at office jobs; Atsuko had received training as a fashion designer and has created many of the band's stage outfits. The band was named after an old brand of pen knife that had been marketed to Japanese boys. At the time of their formation, Shonen Knife was a relative anomaly because all-female rock bands were rare in Japan at the time. While cultivating a punk rock sound, the band emphasized positivity using catchy, upbeat melodies and simple, carefree lyrics that often dealt with

sweets Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies (Australian English, New Zealand English), is a confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, called ''sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, i ...

, animals, and consumer culture. As explained by Nakatani in an interview, "We've always enjoyed writing songs about everyday things. Besides, there are already enough bands out there singing about pollution, war and poverty. While we all care very much about those things, we also feel that music should be fun." Shonen Knife-14

They played their first gig in Osaka in March 1982, and self-released the cassette-only album ''

Minna Tanoshiku ''Minna Tanoshiku'' or ''Everybody Happy'' is the first release by the Japanese rock band Shonen Knife. It was released in cassette-format only in 1982 in the band's native Japan. The first 50 copies were released by the band themselves, and the ...

'' later that year. Their first full-length album ''

Burning Farm ''Burning Farm'' is the first album by Shonen Knife. It is almost entirely in Japanese, with only "Twist Barbie" on the original release in English. The Japanese 8" vinyl (Zero Records 0-0783) had eight songs. The CD re-issue bonus tracks "Parro ...

'' was released in 1983, followed by ''

Yama-no Attchan is the second album released by Japanese pop punk band Shonen Knife and is almost exclusively in Japanese. The album was named after Atsuko, their drummer, the honorific "-chan" being added. The title thus functions as a pun, since the drummer ...

'' in 1984. While the band's early albums were only officially released in Japan, imported copies attracted a cult following among alternative rock fans in the United States. In 1985, ''Burning Farm'' attracted the attention of

K Records K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington founded in 1982. Artists on the label included early releases by Beck, Modest Mouse and Built to Spill. The record label has been called "key to the development of independent music ...

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region. European ...

, which re-released the album in America. In 1986 the band released multiple international versions of the album ''

Pretty Little Baka Guy ''Pretty Little Baka Guy'' is a 1986 album by the female Japanese rock trio Shonen Knife. It was re-released in the US as side one of a record/tape, with side two being ''Live In Japan'' (see below). There have been many releases of this album i ...

'', with the American version issued by

Sub Pop Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often ...

, and their song "One Day of the Factory" appeared on an international compilation released by that label. In 1987, Shonen Knife was invited to open for

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...

in Osaka, and played internationally for the first time at a concert in Los Angeles with organizational support from Sonic Youth and

Redd Kross Redd Kross is an American rock band from Hawthorne, California, who had their roots in 1978 in a punk rock band called the Tourists, which was started by brothers Jeff and Steve McDonald while Steve was still in middle school. With the additi ...

. The band's cult following among musicians was illustrated by the 1991

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

''Every Band Has a Shonen Knife Who Loves Them,'' with cover songs by 23 punk and alternative rock acts.

International recognition

The band released the album ''712'' in 1991. Shonen Knife received significant international recognition later that year when longtime fan

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...

invited them to open for

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

during a European tour, shortly before Nirvana gained widespread fame for their album ''

Nevermind ''Nevermind'' is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991, by DGC Records. It was Nirvana's first release on a major label and the first to feature drummer Dave Grohl. Produced by Butch Vig, '' ...

''. Cobain praised Shonen Knife's performances during the tour, stating, "When I finally got to see them live, I was transformed into a hysterical nine-year-old girl at a

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

concert." Shonen Knife admitted to not knowing who Nirvana was before the invitation, but acknowledged the friendliness and helpfulness of Cobain and the other members of the band during Shonen Knife's first lengthy international tour. Naoko Yamano taught Cobain to play the Shonen Knife song "Twist Barbie", and Nirvana covered the song several times during the tour. Cobain later listed Shonen Knife's ''Burning Farm'' as one of his favorite albums. Shonen Knife signed with

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

in 1992 and released the album '' Let's Knife'' in 1993, featuring re-recorded versions of many of their older songs with new English lyrics. The album ''

Rock Animals ''Rock Animals'' is a studio album by Shonen Knife. It was originally released on September 8, 1993 in Japan. It peaked at number 59 on the Oricon Albums Chart, as well as number 39 on '' Billboard''s Heatseekers Albums chart. Track listing ...

'' was released internationally by

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

in 1994, and the video for the song "Tomato Head" was featured on the American TV series ''

Beavis & Butthead ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' is an American adult animated series created by Mike Judge. The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, lack of intelligence, lowbrow humor, ...

''. In 1994, Shonen Knife toured throughout the United States with the

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

festival. Later that year they contributed to the

Carpenters Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenters t ...

tribute album '' If I Were A Carpenter.'' In the late 1990s, Shonen Knife lost their international record contract and their albums were only available as imports from Japan. The album '' Brand New Knife'' was released in 1997, followed by '' Happy Hour'' in 1998.

Line-up changes and early 2000s

Shonen Knife suffered its first lineup change in 1999, when Michie Nakatani left the band and retired from music. For the band's next several albums, Atsuko Yamano played both drums and bass; for live performances she switched to bass and drummer

Mana Nishiura (October 11, 1971 – November 4, 2005) was a drummer for Japanese alternative rock bands Shonen Knife and DMBQ. She died in a car accident in 2005. Biography Life and career Nishiura was born in Hiroshima, Japan. She was a well-known session ...

was recruited for touring purposes. Nishiura did not perform on Shonen Knife's studio albums and was not considered an official member because she continued to play with her full-time band

DMBQ DMBQ is a Japanese rock band from Tokyo, whose name stands for Dynamite Masters Blues Quartet. They are influenced by British and American rock music of the early 1970s, especially bands like The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Deep Purple, and Led ...

. The albums '' Strawberry Sound'' (2000), '' Heavy Songs'' (2002), ''

Candy Rock ''Candy Rock'' is a 2003 album by the Japanese rock group Shonen Knife. It is one of their few albums not to be released in the United States. All of the songs are sung in Japanese. Track listing All tracks by Naoko Yamano #"Mass Communication B ...

'' (2003), and ''

Genki Shock! Genki Shock! is a 2006 album by the female Japanese rock trio Shonen Knife. The cover design was created by singer/guitarist Naoko Yamano's toddler daughter, Emma. Track listing Japanese edition The cover of the Japanese edition has a yellow b ...

'' (2006), were recorded as a duo with Naoko Yamano on guitar and vocals and Atsuko Yamano on bass and drums. Nishiura died in a car accident in 2005 while on tour with DMBQ. She was replaced by new full-time drummer Etsuko Nakanishi. Shonen_Knife_posing_for_photos_after_a_concert

Shonen_Knife_posing_for_photos_after_a_concert

In late 2006, Atsuko Yamano left the band to get married and move to the United States. This left Naoko Yamano as the last remaining original member of the band. Atsuko was replaced by bassist

Ritsuko Taneda is a Japanese musician, best known as the bass guitarist and rhythm guitarist for the pop punk band Shonen Knife from 2006 to 2016. Before joining Shonen Knife, she was a guitarist and vocalist for the J-Pop groups Keihan Girl and Denki Candy. ...

, previously of the J-pop band Denki Candy. In the following years, Atsuko would occasionally play with the band during tours outside of Japan, at which time Taneda would switch to rhythm guitar; Atsuko did not play on the band's studio albums during this period. The lineup of Naoko Yamano, Ritsuko Taneda, and Etsuko Nakanishi released the albums ''

Super Group ''Super Group'' is an album by the Japanese rock music, rock trio Shonen Knife. It was released in Japan on 7 November 2008, in the USA on 20 May 2009, and in the UK and Europe in 2010. The original Japanese CD issue was released as a mini-LP ca ...

'' (2008) and ''

Free Time Free time, traditionally usually called ''leisure time'' or ''leisure'', refers to the time when one is not working. It may also refer to: *Free time (music) Free time is a type of musical anti-meter free from musical time and time signature. I ...

'' (2010). In 2009 Shonen Knife signed with

Damnably Damnably is a small independent record label and music publisher based in London, England, which also organises live events and tours for its roster of acts. History The label was founded in 2006 by George Gargan, of the band Former Utopia. He ...

in the United Kingdom, and with Good Charamel in the United States at the invitation of label owner

Robby Takac Robert Carl Takac Jr. (born September 30, 1964) is an American rock bassist and vocalist. Takac is one of the founding members of the Goo Goo Dolls, along with Johnny Rzeznik. Background Takac was born in Buffalo, New York and grew up in the Buf ...

. Nakanishi left the band in 2010 and was replaced by Emi Morimoto. During this period they made a high-profile appearance at the

All Tomorrow's Parties "All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by the Velvet Underground and Nico, written by Lou Reed and released on the group's 1967 debut studio album, ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''. Inspiration for the song came from Reed's observation of Andy Warh ...

festival in England, at the invitation of

Matt Groening Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is the creator of the comic strip ''Life in Hell'' (1977–2012) and the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Fut ...

. In 2011 Shonen Knife released the Ramones tribute album '' Osaka Ramones.'' This was followed by the original albums '' Pop Tune'' in 2012 and ''

Overdrive Overdrive may refer to: Organizations * OverDrive, Inc., a digital distributor of entertainment media ** OverDrive Media Console, a media player developed by OverDrive, Inc. * Overdrive PC, a subsidiary of Velocity Micro Technology * Overdrive ...

'' in 2014. From April 2015 to May 2016 Taneda took a leave of absence from the band to give birth, and was temporarily replaced by bassist Naru Ishizuka. Also in 2015, Morimoto left the band and was replaced by 22 year-old drummer Risa Kawano, formerly of the band Brinky. During this period they made another appearance at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival.

Recent history

In mid-2016, Taneda returned from maternity leave but did so on rhythm guitar, allowing Ishizuka to remain as the band's bassist. This briefly made Shonen Knife's official lineup a quartet for the first time. However, a short time later, founding member Atsuko Yamano re-joined the band as bassist after a ten-year absence, and the band was again reduced to a trio consisting of the Yamano sisters and Risa Kawano. Taneda and Ishizuka would make occasional guest appearances on the band's next two albums. This incarnation of the band released the album ''

Adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

,'' which was inspired by 1970s classic rock, in 2016. The album '' Sweet Candy Power'' was released in 2019.

Members

Current *

– lead vocals, guitar (1981–present) *

– drums (1981–2005); bass (1999–2006, 2016–present); occasional touring bassist (2007–2016) * Risa Kawano – drums (2015–present) Former *

– bass, vocals, keyboards (1981–1999) *

– drums (2001–2005, touring only) * Etsuko Nakanishi – drums (2005–2010) * Emi Morimoto – drums (2010–2015) * Naru Ishizuka – bass (2015–16) *

– bass (2006–2015), guitar (2016) Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:110 top:0 right:30 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/12/1981 till:01/01/2023 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:guitar value:green legend:Guitars id:keyboards value:purple legend:Keyboards id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:album value:black legend:Studio_release Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:3 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1982 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1982 LineData = layer:back color:album at:15/08/1982 at:21/07/1983 at:25/05/1984 at:20/07/1986 at:01/07/1991 at:29/08/1992 at:08/09/1993 at:21/08/1996 at:24/06/1998 at:20/02/2000 at:01/02/2002 at:22/05/2003 at:03/06/2005 at:06/07/2007 at:11/08/2007 at:01/01/2010 at:06/06/2012 at:14/04/2014 at:01/04/2016 BarData = bar:Naoko text:Naoko Yamano bar:Michie text:Michie Nakatani bar:Ritsuko text:Ritsuko Taneda bar:Naru text:Naru Ishizuka bar:Atsuko text:Atsuko Yamano bar:Mana text:Mana Nishiura bar:Etsuko text:Etsuko Nakanishi bar:Emi text:Emi Morimoto bar:Risa text:Risa Kawano PlotData = width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(11,-4) bar:Naoko from:01/12/1981 till:end color:guitar bar:Naoko from:01/12/1981 till:end color:vocals width:3 bar:Atsuko from:01/12/1981 till:01/01/2000 color:drums bar:Atsuko from:01/01/2000 till:08/07/2006 color:bass bar:Atsuko from:01/06/2016 till:end color:bass bar:Michie from:01/12/1981 till:01/01/2000 color:bass bar:Michie from:01/12/1981 till:01/01/2000 color:vocals width:3 bar:Michie from:01/01/1994 till:31/12/1999 color:keyboards width:7 bar:Mana from:01/01/2000 till:31/12/2004 color:drums bar:Etsuko from:30/01/2005 till:23/03/2006 color:drums bar:Etsuko from:24/03/2006 till:10/04/2010 color:drums bar:Naru from:12/05/2015 till:01/06/2016 color:bass bar:Ritsuko from:08/07/2006 till:25/03/2015 color:bass bar:Ritsuko from:01/05/2016 till:01/06/2016 color:guitar bar:Emi from:01/10/2010 till:12/07/2015 color:drums bar:Risa from:12/07/2015 till:end color:drums

Discography

*1982: ''

'' *1983: ''

'' *1984: ''

'' *1986: ''

'' *1991: ''

712 __NOTOC__ Year 712 ( DCCXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 712 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era b ...

'' *1992: '' Let's Knife'' *1993: ''

'' *1996: '' The Birds & the B-Sides'' *1997: '' Brand New Knife'' *1998: '' Happy Hour'' *2000: '' Strawberry Sound'' *2002: '' Heavy Songs'' *2003: ''

'' *2006: ''

'' *2007: ''

Fun! Fun! Fun! ''Fun! Fun! Fun!'' is a pop-punk album by Japanese pop punk band Shonen Knife, released on July 6, 2007 on Blues Interactions Japan. The album marked the 25th anniversary of the band. A remastered version with all-English lyrics (catalog number ...

'' *2008: ''

'' *2010: ''

'' *2011: '' Osaka Ramones'' *2012: '' Pop Tune'' *2014: ''

'' *2016: ''

'' *2018: ''Alive! In Osaka'' *2019: '' Sweet Candy Power''

References

External links

Official site
*
Interview with Marc Riley at BBC Radio 6 Music
May 31, 2014
Interview with BEAT Magazine
November 20, 2012

January 2009

{{Authority control Virgin Records artists All-female bands Cuddlecore musicians Japanese indie rock groups Japanese pop punk groups Japanese indie pop groups Japanese alternative rock groups Musical groups from Osaka Musical groups established in 1981 1981 establishments in Japan Japanese punk rock groups