Shonen Knife has been playing for twenty-seven years and just released their fourteenth album, Super Group.
Few bands have careers that span three decades, least of all bands with song titles like ‘Banana Chips’ and ‘Muddy Bubble Hell’. Not only have Shonen Knife endured such a span of time, but they’ve retained the enthusiasm and energy of a band just starting out. When I spoke to the group before their Toronto show at the Horseshoe Tavern, they seemed excited, rather than the slightest bit weary, to be playing thirty cities in thirty-five days during this tour.
The past few years have seen some line-up changes for Shonen Knife (singer Naoko Yamano is the only remaining founding-member) but it seems like they’ve settled into a cohesive unit with the addition of new bassist Ritsuko Taneda. Naoko explains, “For this album our bassist Ritsuko joined the band and we became more like a rock band.”
It’s impossible not to get swept up in the enthusiasm and energy that Shonen Knife projects on stage. In Toronto they drew from their entire catalogue, playing sparingly from the new album in order to fit in older favourites.
Playing fan-favourites rather than just plugging their new album isn’t a surprise from a band that is all about being fun and entertaining. Naoko is anything but a self-indulgent songwriter and claims, “Music should be a fun thing. I don’t want to sing about something serious like political things or something. That’s why I pick the topics for my lyrics as cakes or candies, and sometimes animals.”
Shonen Knife had as much fun as anyone at the Horseshoe during their show. Naoko jumped during guitar solos, Etsuko bounced along with her drums, and Ritsuko wore a huge grin for the entire set. This is a band that loves to play live, and sure knows how to entertain their fans from all over the world.
For many groups, Japan is a large enough market to make their living, and with little financial motivation (or opportunity abroad), it is rare to see Japanese bands touring outside of their home country. Shonen Knife is a whole other story, though. This year alone they’ve been to Europe, Australia and North America.
When asked what drives them to play in the west, Naoko says, “We are influenced by American and British bands. The music of Shonen Knife is more westernized than Japanese pop bands and our lyrics are in English. Mainstream Japanese bands’ lyrics are in Japanese and the melody line is a little bit different than western music. They’re not so rock, but pop.”
Ultimately, Naoko concludes, “We want to go anywhere there are fans. We like everywhere in the world.”
Flickr Photo Set: Shonen Knife – Live @ Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto – 2009/10/18
Also see: Review of Shonen Knife’s new album Super Group.
