CD/MUSIC REVIEWS ~ SUPER GROUP

[mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman]

CD/MUSIC REVIEWS ~
[glow=red,2,300]SUPER GROUP[/glow]Denki's Candy joins the Knife![glow=red,2,300]*[/glow]

2008 Tomato Head (Japan)/Good Charamel records (USA/Canada)
SK: Naoko Yamano (lead guitar and vocals), Ritsuko Taneda (Bass and backing vocals) & Etsuko Nakanishi (Drums and backing vocals)
All songs written and Sung by Naoko, except Jet, written by Paul & Linda McCartney

To begin with, the cover art (see above) both back and front suggests a sophistication not seen previously,with this band (Its wonderful though, to see a return to the band's traditional SK/dagger logo!), and, the same can be said for the contents, which are easily the most "produced" set of Shonen Knife cuts that I've ever heard; this isn't necessarily a bad thing though as the band's new maturity still has a hint of that wonderful SK innocence that makes them the most original act in punk or pop, today. The album begins with Super Group, which gives the listener a quick history of a fictional band (or perhaps more accurately, what Naoko wants her band to be); the next cut reverts to a much more "traditional" SK "bug song" called Slug, only, this one has a bit of an edge, not heard in the Michie days. Next up is Muddy Bubbles Hell, a bit of a tribute to heavy metal, something that has been inspiring Naoko, as of late. As for the rest of it, there isn't a single "clunker" in the bunch; the album is peppy and fun (if a little short, at only 11 cuts), & well worth the price of admission [A surprise to me was hearing the girls cover Jet, a song by the 70s pop-disco band "Wings" (Which starred former Beatle Paul McCartney and his late wife, Linda) ]. This post-Michie album may not rate as QUITE as high for me as say, Fun Fun Fun, for instance, but, it is still SK at it's best!
out of 5

Playlist
SUPER GROUP
SLUG
MUDDY BUBBLES HELL
DEER BISCUITS
BBQ PARTY
PYRAMID POWER
TIME WARP
NA NA NA
YOUR GUITAR
JET
EVIL BIRDS

Liner art: (This was Ritsuko's first album as a full-time member, note that she seems just a little shy here)
ps. Naoko looks amazing here, it's not every woman pushing 50 who could look so hot standing between 2 gorgeous girls several years younger than she is!

[glow=red,2,300]*[/glow]This is a word play; Ritsuko's last band before SK was called Denki Candy; and I'm also comparing sweet Rits-chan to candy

[mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman]

SUPER GROUP SONG REVIEW~
[glow=red,2,300]SUPER GROUP[/glow]

The album starts out in an upbeat way with Super Group, a song about Naoko's love for Rock & Roll that begins with Etsuko and new bassist Ritsuko "rockin' out" , to be soon followed by Naoko's full-speed guitar which comes into the mix quite, fluidly.
Anyone who still doubts Naoko's ability to play a World class guitar, has only to listen, to hear just how skilled she has become; add to this her well controlled vocals, and you have a new SK classic!

[mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman]

SUPER GROUP SONG REVIEW~
[glow=red,2,300]SLUG[/glow]

The newest in a long list of SK "Bug songs", Slug adds a new, almost heavy rock sound to the tradition; however, old time fans will be comforted by the lyrics, which are classic Knife. (Naoko; don't ever change, we love you just as you are!!!!)
As with the best of SKs songs this one tells a little real-life story; it could almost be considered a sequel to Spider House.

[mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman]

SUPER GROUP SONG REVIEW~
[glow=red,2,300]MUDDY BUBBLES HELL[/glow]

Well, for those who asked for it, Naoko finally tackles Metal head-on with this catchy song that takes full advantage of the talents of her new bassist Ritsuko and her then drummer, the World-class Etsuko; now, normally I absolutely hate metal, but, somehow; there's just enough of the traditional SK "personality" here to make me want to listen (Including the distinctive "Watch out!"s from one of Naoko's earliest experiments with metal, People Traps, from "Happy Hour"). Naoko nails the vocals and the others follow along beautifully on their instruments... There's no doubt that the 2008-10* edition of Shonen Knife will go down in history as one of the greatest eras for the band. (I still prefer the original 3, but, only just!)

*With the replacement of Etsuko by Emi this spring, a new era of the band has just begun

[mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman]

SUPER GROUP SONG REVIEW~
[glow=red,2,300]DEER BISCUITS[/glow]

A return to the classic SK sound of the 80s is about feeding tame deer at the park in Nara (Japan) a small flat cookie-like treat called "shika sembei" AKA "Deer biscuits", sold by the snack vendors there. This song could easily have been on Burning Farm or 712...HOLY NOSTALGIA, BATMAN!

[mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman]

SUPER GROUP SONG REVIEW~
[glow=red,2,300]BBQ PARTY[/glow]

By FAR my favorite cut on this album; BBQ party starts out as a typical SK food song; sweet and mild, then the fun begins, Etsuko makes 3 clicks on her sticks and the tempo suddenly changes to a frenetic pace , culminating in Naoko's shouts of PIG OUT PIG OUT PIG OUT!!!! only to slow the tempo again, followed by another set of "PIG OUT PIG OUT PIG OUT!!"s getting louder and progressively faster, to end in an amazing creshedo of sound... A new "food song" classic is born!!!!

[mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman]

SUPER GROUP SONG REVIEW~
[glow=red,2,300]PYRAMID POWER[/glow]

Obviously the inspiration for the "SUPER GROUP" CD cover, Pyramid Power is a catchy semi-metal tune about the supposed powers of the pyramid, such as keeping food fresh, for instance (Most of which have been proven to be pure bunk...Just ask the Mythbusters); this song is a blast at a live concert, where the girls just let their guitars (and their hair) FLY!!!! the powers of a pyramid may be superstition, but the song is just plain "SUPER"!

[mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman]

SUPER GROUP SONG REVIEW~
[glow=red,2,300]TIME WARP[/glow]

A nicely sung rock ballad in the style of Shonen Knife ca. 1995
(With a bit of heavier rock guitar, added)

[mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman]

SUPER GROUP SONG REVIEW~
[glow=red,2,300]NA NA NA[/glow]

Classic 90s Shonen Knife with perfect harmony singing and 2000s production values, i like it, but, it's arguably the weakest entry in this amazing album. (For my taste, at least)

[mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman]

SUPER GROUP SONG REVIEW~
[glow=red,2,300]YOUR GUITAR[/glow]

Another song where Naoko imagines herself to by a rock and roll goddess; and recounts her dreams of stardom since chilhood. (Ok she's supposedly singing about someone else, but.... we know who she's REALLY singing about! )
A nicely done rock ballad.

[mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman]

SUPER GROUP SONG REVIEW~
[glow=red,2,300]JET[/glow]

Naoko covers Paul McCartney and Wings here, and does a really nice job; seriously! (Personally, I never could stand Wings, but, I like this...I don't love it, but, like is ok, right?)

[mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman]

SUPER GROUP SONG REVIEW~
[glow=red,2,300]EVIL BIRDS[/glow]

Naoko's kind of early 60s sounding threat to any bird stupid enough to build a nest too close to her house, or crap on her car; truly the kind of song that only Naoko could write and that only the Knife can turn into musical art! (I really love Naoko's singing on this one, btw!) Not a classic maybe but, still a nice way to end what has to be, one of the best post-Michie albums.

Mikey

[tangerinesun]

When I find something at the Internet Flea Market, I'm likely to bring it home.

~~~

See also Chad's terrific in-person interview copied at the interviews thread over here:
shonenknife.proboards.com/post/14970/thread

~~~ 


Album review of Shonen Knife Super Group
2008 Fall by Chad Van Wagner for JRawk.com (now extinct)
web.archive.org/web/20100213145026/http://www.jrawk.com/Content/S/shonenknife/reviews/supergroup.html


Super Group


[This para is just the reviewer reviewing his own self.]

Years ago (1989 to be exact,) as a college age record geek, I heard about about
some new band from Japan: they were championed by then underground heroes
Sonic Youth and Redd Kross. They even had a tribute album, featuring then current
hipster acts like The Three O'Clock, L7, and the aforementioned Sonic Youth and
Redd Kross. Who the Hell were these people, who somehow managed to get a
relatively star studded tribute album released before anyone even knew who
they were? And why did said tribute album feature a woman (not a band member)
in a meat bikini on the back cover?


[Concerns relevant to music culture hipster-ism]

Well, I never got an answer to that last question, but it became common knowledge
soon enough that Shonen Knife were three cute Japanese girls who played a particularly
naive type of three chord punk pop (which, it should be said, was at time time still a
very underground thing.) As they played shows in the States in an attempt to ride
their new wave of hipster adulation, there were rumblings in the peanut gallery: they
couldn't really play, their songs (especially their lyrics) made them sound like kids...
damn, look at them, they ARE kids...and they were just too innocent. Were we being
taken for a ride, or perhaps more importantly, were these innocent young women
being exploited for the sake of some ironic joke? Were we supposed to appreciate
them, or snicker knowingly at them? 


[Actual thinking about Shonen Knife starts here.]

Well, two decades and a better understanding of Japanese culture later, the exploitation
question has been answered: naivety is Shonen Knife's raison d'être, their main focus.
Head Knife Naoko Yamano is well into her 40s, and she's writing lyrics like this:

I went down to the deer park
On a warm sunny day
You can feed deer at the park
If you buy deer biscuits

Sweet little deer came near me
It bowed many times at me
I fed deer biscuits to it
It looked very happy


[Essay payload delivery from here]

Forgive the long intro, but the point is this: Shonen Knife may have started out as
innocent, but now they're about innocence, and they've got it down to an art.
What first sounded cutely accidental is now what powers Shonen Knife 2008, and
"Super Group" hits its target more often then not. Naoko's vocals are up front,
unpolished, and wide eyed as ever: she still sounds like a little kid, or perhaps
more accurately, she sounds like someone who never forgot what it was like
to be a little kid. Check out the song titles: "BBQ Party" (about a BBQ Party,)
"Time Warp" (about time travel,) "Slug" (about, you guessed it, a slug) and the
aforementioned "Deer Biscuits." There's no symbolism, there's no sly reference
to anything. They're just songs about the sort of day to day things that seem
extraordinary to a mind that's refused to become cynical. Even the "doom" song,
"Muddy Bubbles Hell" (about muddy bubbles, in Hell) is Hades as seen through
the eyes of a kid: It's bad! You'll get hurt! Don't get burned!

The impressive thing, however, is that the music manages to convey the same
naivety without relying on the amateurism that marked them initially. They keep
it light, even with "dark" chords, and while they've long since learned how to play,
the guitar solos are still (mostly) one string wonders. The best thing, however,
is that the songs invite you in, instead of just presenting an image: the title track
actually succeeds as arena rock, "Muddy Bubbles Hell" has an understated but
nonetheless palpable darkness, "Slug" works quite well as three chord pop thrash,
etc. What could...what should have been inconsequential becomes solid: it's
light hearted, but it's not easily dismissed. Once the listener accepts the
Shonen Knife universe for what it is, "Super Group" has plenty to chew on. 

〜〜〜〜〜
Original URL was www dot jrawk.com/Content/S/shonenknife/reviews/supergroup.html
First captured by the Internet Archive on 2008 DEC 27

I fixed a couple of typos.

〜〜〜〜〜 

You might say, here's another guy ruined by a college education, but
at least he liked it. 

I think he's onto something true, which many people comment on,
which is that as they grew up and got professional, Shonen Knife
stopped just *being* Shonen Knife and began to *do* Shonen Knife
as an act.

That is not all bad, boys & girls. Putting on a show means putting on
a show, and not the way you did it in the living room at age 5, either. 
If you play for a living, you're obliged to deliver a promised product
reliably, repeatably, over and over. 

It only gets stale and insincere if you lose access to that wellspring of 
you-ness, and start repeating yourself, copying yourself, or faking. 

The way I look at it, 2008 was a watershed year for Shonen Knife.
It was when Naoko found she had a stable band that could do
whatever she had ambition to do, even emulate heavy metal
arena-rock gods of the 1970s. 

So I'm trying out the idea that the rudder started to turn for real 
about 8 years ago and we're still feeling the effects every time 
Naoko puts on a Judas Priest shirt.