Shonen Knife - Fun! Fun! Fun! (2007)

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Shonen Knife (少年ナイフ) is an influential all-female Japanese pop-punk band formed in Osaka, Japan, in 1981. Heavily influenced by early Rock & Roll bands, 1960s girl groups, The Beach Boys, and early punk rock acts, such as The Ramones, the trio crafts stripped-down songs expressing infectious melodies and simplistic, exuberant lyrics sung both in Japanese and English.

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Shonen Knife's first record without founding drummer (and later bassist) Atsuko Yamano is a bit more diverse than the previous few albums. With guitarist Naoko Yamano in full control, there is plenty of the patented Shonen Knife rock and roll, but also some more laid back numbers -- "Birthday" and "Oyasumi" are both ballads (the former has an organ as its dominant instrument), and "Las Vegas" has a slight country rock feel to it.

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This really is fun!fun!fun!, as Shonen Knife solidifies its powerchord pop sound with a clutch of energetic, catchy tunes. Naoko seems to be even more in control of the band, with its Ramones influences front and center. All the same, this is completely distinctive. A couple of the slower numbers may not work was well, but this CD is otherwise a delight, and strongly recommended. ~ from customer review

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Tracklist:

01. 重力無重力 (Gravity Zero Gravity) #
02. Barnacle （インフルエンザ）
03. Flu （インフルエンザ）
04. Ramones Forever
05. Las Vegas
06. Birthday
07. ポップコーン (Popcorn) #
08. クッキーたべたい (I Wanna Eat Cookies) #
09. みなみのしま (Southern Islands) #
10. おやすみ (Good Night) #

# - English titles taken from the official worldwide reissue
Cover illustration & all songs composed by Naoko Yamano.


Produced by Naoko Yamano & Atsushi Shibata
Recorded & Mixed at Yotsubashi LM Studios, Osaka, Japan
Engineered by Ippei Suda. Mastered by Koichi Hara at Sonorous Audio.

• Naoko Yamano - vocals, guitars, keyboards, percussion
• Etsuko Nakanishi – drums, backing vocals

additional musicians:
- Roman Yumeno - guitar, bass
- Emma - lead vocals on "Birthday"

Release Date: July 6, 2007
Format: Initial pressing
Label: P-Vine Records/Tomato Head
Catalog No.: PCD-25056