Support from rock luminaries such as Nirvana, Calvin Johnson, and Sonic Youth has been an immense help for Osaka cult band Shonen Knife, forging a link between the U.S. and Japanese pop undergrounds while bringing the band's perky, sugarcoated punk/pop to a wider audience. But over the past 25 years, singer/songwriter Naoko Yamano and her sister, drummer/bassist Atsuko, have been prolific and consistent enough to warrant praise even without the endorsement of more famous fans and mentors.
Originality is hardly the point with Shonen Knife; they feel a kinship with British and American punks like Buzzcocks, the Ramones, and Black Flag, and their music sizzles with unabashed, carbon-copy glee. But the band's familiar, three-chords-and-no-frills guitar chug is typically offset by entertaining lyrical subversions pushed through the Japanese cultural filter. They're known for lighthearted and charmingly guileless lyrics about everything from flying jellybeans and tomato juice addictions to ugly bison and spam e-mail; Naoko's odd obsession with food and animals came about because, she confesses, she is "too shy to write about love."
After founder Michie Nakatani left in 1999, Atsuko moved from drums to bass, though she still lays down beats for the majority of this record. Nakatani's departure led to an initial slump in the quality of Shonen Knife's releases, but Genki Shock! finds them sounding stronger and more energetic than ever. Tracks such as "Broccoli Man" are lyrically amusing ("Just boiled the Broccoli Man/ He tastes like pistachio/ Steaming, he seems to get angry") while displaying a Beatles-influenced rhythmic swagger and psychedelic guitar lines that belie the cuteness Naoko exudes. Elsewhere, the Knife deliver high-powered punk anthems like "Rock Society" (which, to be honest, brings the whole Ramones thing a bit too close to the bone), the spiky pop of "Jeans Blue", and the more elaborate vocal compositions and guitar solos of standouts "Magic Glasses" and "Forest Walk".
Naoko has often said that her main desire with Shonen Knife is simply to make people feel happy; when you find yourself dancing around the kitchen to songs like "Giant Kitty", singing "Big big big cat/ I like it's fluffy body/ Everybody likes it's funny face" with goofy joy, you know the Yamano sisters have succeeded with their jewel box of bright, bubblegum sounds.
