Sometimes a small step backwards can equal three well placed giant steps in the right direction.
Take, for example, the sonic contrast between the last two Shonen Knife studio albums. While 1994's Rock Animals strove for a hard-edged, riot grrrl roar that, more often than not, fell flat and was less than convincing; Brand New Knife, the Osaka, Japan-based trio's latest record, marks a welcome return to the hook-filled jangle of a much simpler place and time.
While it may've been as lyrically naive as the six or seven records that preceded it, the aimed-at-the-mainstream, arena rawk sheen plastered all over Rock Animals by co-producer Page Porrazzo contrasted uncomfortably with bassist/vocalist Michie Nakatani's and guitarist/vocalist Naoko Yamano's warbled, still-learning-the-language vocals, enthusiastically-sloppy riffing and simplistic world view.
Shonen Knife as leather-clad, grrrl group rockers was, for the most part, a concept rejected not only by mainstream listeners, but by alterna-rock fans who already had a Shonen Knife disc or two in their collections.
"We were very loud then," comments Naoko about sessions for the album. "While Rock Animals captured our live sound much better than anything we had done before, maybe," she ponders, "it was too loud?"
"People come up to us after shows all the time to tell us how surprised they are that we play as loud, and as well, as we do," chuckles Michie. "Everyone seems to really enjoy our shows, but they always tell us later how surprised they were that we can 'rock.' "
Formed in 1982 by wide-eyed innocents Nakatani and Yamano with Yamano's younger sister, Atsuko, on drums; Shonen Knife has spent the last 15 years carving out a niche for themselves in the pop world by combining lyrics about simple pleasures such as fishing, bicycling, ice cream, kitty cats, jelly beans, insect collecting, diet products, chocolate bars and desert treats with some of the catchiest pop confection crafted since Redd Kross discovered the Rickenbacker.
"We've always enjoyed writing songs about everyday things," says Michie in halting, hesitant English on the afternoon of the group's sold out performance at L. A.'s recent Poptopia Festival. "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. You should be able to go [trills a few playful "la-la-la-la-la's"] when you hear your favorite song on the radio."
That simple approach has worked surprisingly well for the group. While a rollicking version of Karen and Richard Carpenter's "Top Of The World" (from the 1994 If I Were A Carpenter tribute compilation) is the closest they've ever come to an actual hit (thanks, in part, to its use in a Microsoft commercial), the band has enjoyed the respect and encouragement of their American musical peers since well before their first U.S. concert in 1990, 1991's attention-grabbing 712 CD on Gasatanka/Rockville Records, or Let's Knife, their 1993 Virgin Records debut.
Adopted by the punk and pop elite and feted by the likes of Nirvana and Redd Kross early on, the 1989 Shonen Knife tribute album, Every Band Has A Shonen Knife Who Loves Them, showcased 23 of America's hottest alterna-bands (including L7 and Sonic Youth) doing their very best to capture the child-like magic of Shonen Knife.
While the record went nowhere commercially, the resulting press exposure helped ensure that there were, at the very least, curious club-goers waiting for them when Naoko, Michie and Atsuko landed on these shores for the first time the next year.
After the misguided Rock Animals album and their version of "Top Of The World" failed to do more than add a smattering of new fans to the group's cultish following, Virgin Records released the Brown Mushrooms and Other Delights EP, an 18-track, The Birds & The B-Sides compilation and, midway through last year, the band itself.
Quickly inking a new contract with Big Deal Records, a New York-based indie label with an impressive roster of pop acts, decent distribution and a faultless industry reputation, Shonen Knife wasted little time before flying to L. A. to record tracks for their tenth full length album, this time with Buffalo Tom, Lemonheads and Ringo Starr producers the Robb Brothers behind the boards.
As whimsically preoccupied with the mundane events of day-to-day life as ever, the 13 new songs on the 20-track (the seven extras are in Japanese) Brand New Knife finds Shonen Knife turning their attention to such important topics as love, relationships, television psychics, sumo wrestling, rock idols, plastic robots, amusement park rides, fruits and vegetables, Japanese monuments, Barbie Dolls, Buddha, Twister, Star Trek and a severe case of Frogphobia.
"That's me," giggles Michie. "I have frogphobia. I just don't like frogs. There's just something" she pauses in search of the right word before giving up and stating emphatically. "I really don't like frogs."
"I don't want to sing about too many bad things or too many dark, sad things," proclaims Naoko. "I want everyone to enjoy the music of Shonen Knife. If I write and sing about fun things, Shonen Knife will make the people listening to us happy."
Graced with simple melodies, driven guitars, inspired harmonies, skewed-in-translation lyrics, deeper meaning than some of those lyrics first let on, and a sweetly lilting sense of childlike naivete; Brand New Knife is a gleaming return to Let's Knife-caliber Shonen-pop with enough of the hard grrrl energy displayed on Rock Animals left over to induce serious bouts of air guitar riffing.
"We don't want to limit where we can go with our music," says Naoko, "so we try to listen to everything - although I don't seem to care for 'noisy' music too much these days. I recently started listening to my Kiss records again. I even have a Kiss jacket with a cartoon drawing of the band on it," she laughs. "I remember when I was a child and I went to see my first Kiss concert, I was just soooo surprised by the show. It made me want to be up there singing and playing."
"I really love good pop music," offers Michie. "The Beatles, Beach Boys, The Jam, Redd Kross, Cheap Trick."
"Cheap Trick came to Japan last December," recalls Naoko. "I went to the show with Atsuko. I remember being very impressed by Robin Zander's voice, Rick's [Nielsen] many guitars and the way the band was" she sighs, "when I watch groups like Kiss or Cheap Trick, I'm always amazed at how much fun they seem to be having on stage."
"Shonen Knife wants people to enjoy our show and our music, too," comments Michie. "But, most importantly, we have to be happy being Shonen Knife. We want to have fun. We want to write songs that make us happy when we record them, and make us happy when we play them again and again."
"_Brand New Knife has many moments that make us very proud and very happy to be Shonen Knife," says Naoko. "Michie has good songs, I have good songs, the music is, I think, very good - it's a good album."
"I really like 'The Perfect World' a lot, but," she adds sheepishly, "one of my favorite songs on the record is 'Magic Joe.' My sound concept when I was writing it wasn't 'Hey Bulldog' - which is what many people seem to think," Naoko laughs, "but Led Zeppelin. Maybe since I love the Beatles so much, I was subconsciously inspired by them when I wrote it."
"Another good song is 'Buddha's Face,' " she offers. "We do that one live a lot because it's loud and fun to play. I was very angry at, uhm something," Naoko adds cryptically, "when I wrote that song."
"I think the single ["E.S.P."] is very good and I really like "Magic Joe" a lot," offers Michie, "but, I'm especially proud of "The Perfect World." I think it's the best song I've ever written. Naoko plays the Mellotron and a great guitar break on it, and it has a good feel to it. I also enjoy "Loop Di Loop," she laughs, "which is about going on an amusement park ride."
"You know, some people try to analyze what we're singing about and spend too much time trying to figure out, 'who is Shonen Knife?' " laughs Naoko. "But, as long as we have songs that make us smile when we play them and make our fans happy when they hear them, who cares if we sing about bad oysters, chocolate bars or ice cream?"
Look for Shonen Knife on tour at a venue near you this spring. Learn more Big Deal information (such as Shonen Knife tour dates) by e-mailing: BIGDEALNYC@AOL.COM.
Join the official Shonen Knife Fan Club by writing to: Knife Collectors, PO Box 1942, Hoboken, NJ 07030.
