Shonen Knife are a super influential all-female Japanese pop-punk band formed in Osaka, in 1981, by sisters Naoko Yamano and Atsuko Yamano. The Ramones-loving, food obsessed trio (with Michie Nakatani) effortlessly created kooky songs with upbeat infectious melodies and exuberant lyrics often about sweets and animals. A twenty-seven-year career has seen them tour the world with Nirvana (opening on the Nevermind tour), Sonic Youth, the BMX Bandits, and as part of the travelling alternative rock festival Lollapolooza.
They’ve also recorded sessions for John Peel, appeared on MTV’s Beavis and Butthead, 120 minutes, and wrote “Buttercup (I’m a Supergirl)” for the hugely popular cartoon ‘The Powerpuff Girls’.
In 2009 they released their 14th album, ‘Super Group’, toured the UK, Europe, Australia and just finished a 30 date tour across the USA. The band have a new album coming out in January (Japan) and April (Europe) called “Free Time”. They are very excited to be playing All Tomorrow’s Parties festival curated by Matt Groening in May, along with the release of their 15th album “Free Time”!
“When I finally got to see them live, I was transformed into a hysterical nine-year-old girl at a Beatles concert.” Kurt Cobain
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Press Quotes
LondonPaper: (Super Group review)“Part Shangri-La’s, part Ramones, you can’t resist the charm of lyrics … so give in, and don’t.”
Time Out London:“Punchy Pop-Rock”
Artrocker:“Objectively, it could be pointed out that they can only play in a rudimentary fashion, that their songs are ludicrously simple and that they are not doing anything new. Objectivity can fuck right off, because Shonen Knife are brilliant”
Japan Times:“Shonen Knife are one of the most important bands in history, even if the world at large doesn’t know it”
