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A lot of people were looking forward to this show with great anticipation. After all, other than their Lollapalooza stint in 1994, it's been two years since Shonen Knife made their way through L.A. to lay down their joyous and funny brand of pop-rock. For those of you who still don't know, Shonen Knife is a three-piece girl band from Osaka, Japan, who've been winning the hearts of fans and critics alike since their conception in 1982. They play a wide and engaging variety of styles, incorporating punk, hard rock, doo-wop, ska and bubblegum pop (to name a few), which they unleashed to great effect on a packed Roxy this night. Taking the stage in their new black and white "space panda" outfits, the girls proceeded to tear up the stage and ignite the crowd, which was soon happily bouncing, moshing and body-surfing, young and old alike.
The amazing thing about Shonen Knife is the sheer POWER that comes out of these three diminutive little women. This band is tight in the best sense of the word and they can definitely rock just as hard as any other band around today, with strains of the Ramones, B-52's, Buzzcocks, Black Sabbath and even the Beatles evident in their songs. However, unlike most of the angst-ridden negativity that dominates alternative rock today, Shonen Knife has FUN when they write and play. This is just about the least pretentious band you'll ever see -- they LOVE playing and it really shows, especially in the bright grin that lights up singer/guitarist Naoko Yamano's face. When not belting out sweet and genuinely funny vocals (mostly in English), Naoko was bouncing all over the stage, a little pixie strapped into a giant Gibson Flying V. On the other side of the stage, bassist/vocalist Michie Nakatani laid down a solid bass line while delivering her own songs, while drummer Atsuko Yamano (Naoko's sister) was rock-steady with her percussion, while adding her voice to complete the trademark Shonen Knife three-part harmony. The tunes they delivered were widely varied, from the cute and infectious pop staples which Shonen Knife fans have come to love and expect ("Flying Jelly Attack", "Twist Barbie", "Riding On The Rocket", "Bear Up Bison", "Cooking Story"), to harder rock ("Concrete Animals", "Cobra vs. Mongoose", "Antonio Baka Guy"), to grooving R & B ("Johnny Johnny Johnny", "Cycling Is Fun"). A big added treat was the Carpenters' "Top Of The World", which they covered on the Carpenters' tribute album last year, and the previewing of new material that will appear on Shonen Knife's next album. "E.S.P.", "Buddha's Face" and "Loop-De-Loop" showed that even though the girls have been getting progressively harder in their sound, they haven't lost their harmonic and silly edge, either. The crowd ate it all up and were disappointed when the show ended, even after eighteen songs over nearly two hours.
This was, unfortunately, probably the last time Shonen Knife will appear in the U.S. for another year or so -- they're back in Japan now, about to record their new album. If you're looking for something genuinely different and fun, you would do well to see them when they return to these shores, and to pick up their U.S. albums "Let's Knife" and "Rock Animals" in the meantime. You won't be sorry.
--- Michael Tullberg