August 4, 2009
The following is the formal Press Release announcing the Shonen Knife 2009 Tour of North America.
Shonen Knife are:
Ritsuko (bass, vocals), Naoko (vocals, guitars), Etsuko (drums, vocals)
Shonen Knife was born in Osaka, Japan.
Shonen Knife is the legendary all-female Japanese pop-punk band formed in Osaka, Japan in 1981. Heavily influenced by 1960s girl groups, pop bands, and early punk rock acts, such as The Beach Boys and The Ramones, the trio plays stripped-down songs with infectious melodies and simplistic, exuberant lyrics sung both in Japanese and English. Despite their pop-oriented nature, the trio maintains a distinctly underground garage rock sound rooted in edgy instrumentation and D.I.Y. aesthetics. The bands twenty-seven-year career has seen them tour the world with Nirvana (on the Nevermind tour), Sonic Youth, The Breeders and as part of Lollapalooza. They recorded sessions for John Peel, appeared on MTV's Beavis and Butthead, 120 minutes, the Conan O'Brian show and recorded "Buttercup (I'm a Supergirl)" for the hugely popular cartoon 'The Powerpuff Girls'.
Since the original member and bassist Atsuko moved to Los Angeles and left the band, Naoko and Etsuko played with support bassists. On the new album Super Group, support bassist Ritsuko has joined the band as an official member. Now Shonen Knife has become a 3 piece band again and a super group was born.
In 2007, they released an album ("fun! fun! fun!") in Japan. Since then, they've spent very busy days playing lots of shows, they enjoyed a North American tour, recorded a cover song for an AC/DC tribute album and played at many international rock festivals. In 2009 Shonen Knife signed a deal with Good Charamel Records to release "Super Group" to the fans in North America! Tours of Europe, Australia and North America will follow the release of the new Super Group CD!
The concept of Super Group is to "go back to the starting point of ROCK". All the lyrics on Super Group are written in English. The first song "Super Group" is very punk pop like the Buzzcocks. "Muddy Bubbles Hell" and "Pyramid Power" taste like Heavy Metal. "BBQ Party" starts with a Jonathan Richman like intro and transforms into punk rock. The harmony at the last part of "Na Na Na" is very cute. The last song is a cover of Paul McCartney and the Wings song "Jet", the Shonen Knife version is very fun and very ROCK. The North American CD release of Super Group features exclusive cover artwork and the bonus track, "Evil Birds". This album makes everybody happy!!!
10-16 Fri - New York, NY - Santos Party House
10-17 Sat - Ithaca, NY - Cornell University
10-18 Sun - Toronto, Canada - Horseshoe Tavern
10-19 Mon - Detroit, MI - Magic Stick
10-20 Tue - Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge
10-21 Wed - Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry
10-23 Fri - Missoula, MT - The Badlander
10-24 Sat - Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern
10-25 Sun - Vancouver, Canada - Biltmore Cabaret
10-26 Mon - Bellingham, WA - The Nightlight
10-27 Tue - Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
10-29 Thu - San Francisco, CA - Rickshaw Stop *
10-30 Fri - San Jose - Blank Club *
10-31 Sat - Visalia, CA - The Cellar Door *
11-01 Sun - Oakland, CA - Uptown *
11-02 Mon - Los Angeles, CA - Echo *
11-03 Tue - San Diego, CA - Casbah *
11-04 Wed - Tucson, AZ - Plush
11-06 Fri - San Antonio, TX - Sam's Burger Joint
11-07 Sat - Austin, TX - Fun Fun Fun Festival
11-08 Sun - Houston, TX - Numbers Nightclub
11-10 Tue - Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon ^
11-11 Wed - Memphis, TN - Hi Tone ^
11-12 Thu - Atlanta, GA - E.A.R.L. ^
11-13 Fri - Richmond, VA - Plaza Bowl ^
11-14 Sat - Hoboken, NJ - Maxwells ^
11-15 Sun - Allston, MA - Great Scotts ^
11-16 Mon - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church ^
11-17 Tue - Brookyn, NY - Brooklyn Bowl ^%
11-18 Wed - Buffalo, NY - Mohawk Place ^
* with Ty Segall
^ with JEFF the Brotherhood
% with Golden Triangle
Shonen Knife
"Super Group"
[Good Charamel Records]
Street Date: August 25, 2009
Track Listing
01. Super Group
02. Slug
03. Muddy Bubbles Hell
04. Deer Biscuits
05. BBQ Party
06. Pyramid Power
07. Time Warp
08. Na Na Na
09. Your Guitar
10. Jet
11. Evil Birds (bonus track)
Links
Shonen Knife - MySpace
Official Shonen Knife Home Page ~ Osaka
Shonen Knife on Twitter
Good Charamel Records-Shonen Knife
Ty Segall - MySpace
JEFF the brotherhood - MySpace
Golden Triangle - MySpace
Press Inquiries - tom@aaminc.com or 212.924.3005
Label Contact - miyokokpez@gmail.com or 716.803.3069
The Shonen Knife NeXuS - Return to the Main Index Page of the Shonen Knife NeXuS.
- Shonen Knife Homepage - The Official Shonen Knife Home Page in Osaka, Japan!