Commentary on the first two Virgin releases by a semi-fan lo-fi DIY
downer-rock guy. Proof that you can know more than is good for you...
and it's still not enough.
–S–Shonen Knife www.disclaimerband.com/s.html
Let's KnifeWillie's comments: …there's an enormous amount of cheerfulness baked into
each tightly-wound song, complete with lyrics that are bursting with quotable
non-sequiturs.
For instance, "Bear Up Bison" is a conservation song whose message is tied into
lines like "He has a right to live though he's ill, ill, ill-shaped" and a completely
random allusion to XTC.
"Cycling is Fun" is an invigorating, sweet throwback to Phil Spector's girl-band
productions that... pretty much just goes on to say how much fun cycling is.
(Answer: lots.)
And sometimes those influences extend to outright thievery: "Burning Farm"
interpolates the wordless chant from Cannibal & the Headhunters'
"Land of 1,000 Dances,"
"Devil House" is a cheerful rewrite of the Buzzcocks' "What Do I Get?"
"Antonio Baka Guy" proudly lurches through Deep Purple's (horrible) iconic
"Smoke on the Water" riff, etc.
However, there's nothing ironic or cynical to Shonen Knife's borrowed bits; indeed,
they employ their favorite classic rock hooks with the enthusiasm of a teenager
learning to play a guitar by strumming out the songs she grew up with.
Furthermore, although the music is all familiar, songs like "Black Bass" and "I Am a Cat"
feature such wonderful harmonies and unexpected melodic turns that they make up in
catchiness what they lack in originality… Grade: B+
Rock AnimalsWillie's comments:
…Rock Animals isn't as relentlessly cartoonish as their debut,
Pretty Little Baka Guy, or even Let's Knife, but the musicianship is far superior —
check out the arpeggio on "Butterfly Boy" or the searching melody of "Another Day."
"Johnny Johnny Johnny" is evidently a tribute to Devo's "Come Back Jonee," which is
unfortunate, since the latter's a pretty crappy song to begin with, but the rest
of the album finds Shonen Knife at their best.Grade: A-
Let's fill out our own scorecard! Quotable non-sequitursNon sequitur in
the literary sense. We're not talking about deductive logic here. This
description just isn't right. A non sequitur is a new step that's irrationally disconnected
from what came before. Not a twist in the chain, not a kink, a total break.
Like this: "
No soap, radio."
Like the world of Alice's looking-glass, in Shonen Knife Land everything makes sense,
even if it's not what you expected going in. When they're funny, it's because the punchline
really does follow from the setup, often with childlike simplicity.
Let's go hunting brown mushrooms! Where should we search? Under the moon?
I know! Maybe we will find them at the Italian restaurant!
Random XTC quotation in Bear Up BisonYep, it's almost a parody song, especially under the original title,
"Making Plans for Bison". If I had to write song lyrics in Japanese,
I would also be looking for known-good chunks of lyrics I could use.
Cycling is Fun So it is. Phil Spector did not invent girl groups, there are other influences too.
Burning Farm and "na-na-na" from Land of 1,000 DancesThe version from Cannibal and the Headhunters is certainly the same song
as the one recorded by Chris Kenner from 1965. They credit Kenner/Domino
right on the label.
And Naoko stole their entire na-na-na scaffolding, throwing away all the stuff
about alligators, ponies, and Bony Moronie; which she replaced with jungle-y
drums, vaguely afro-beat guitar licks, and a narrative about imaginary
slash-and-burn tillage. For the version on
Min'na Tanoshiku Shonen Knife Shonen Knife went full National Geographic.
I've been back and forth about this. It's no way the same song by the time
Shonen Knife get done with it. However, it's kind of the same song structure,
and they did loot the best part. Inaccurately, for whatever reason.
An excellent steal anyway. The harmony vocals are really striking.
It's worth recalling that when they first did this, it would have been crazy optimistic
to think more than 100 copies of the song would get out, and just within Kansai at that.
But when people liked it, the stakes spiraled up rapidly.
I guess the best comparison to make is, if someone like John Coltrane picks up and
interprets a well-known show tune, then Rogers & Hammerstein just got a compliment…
but they have nothing to complain of, and it's no longer "their" composition coming out
of Coltrane's horn. In a small way, this works like that.
"Burning Farm" is Naoko's "Variations Upon a Theme of
Francisco Maria Garcia".
At what point a music publisher needs its palm crossed with silver… I don't know.
"Devil House" is a re-write of "What Do I Get?"Well, it's pretty much got the same chords, including the characteristic
C—G#—G—C change under "What do I get? Ohhhh, what do I get?".
But you can play "Turkey In The Straw" on top of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy".
The chords alone don't make it what it is.
Between Shonen Knife and the Buzzcocks, the verses don't feel the same.
"Devil House" has a melody line that hops and skips around the movement
of the chords much more freely.
On the chorus, though, Naoko is caught dead to rights. Copying the critical
bit of melody for "Devil House, wo-woah, Devil House" is what clinches it.
The creative part is Naoko recognizing that the abrupt little step up from
the key of C into C-minor happening there is good for her haunted house
song, because it can be spooky.
In that way, she makes a little more out of it than the Buzzcocks do. They are
using it for momentary tension but it doesn't feel like a surprise change from
major to minor, because 95% of the song sounds so dark.
The shivery classic-cartoon haunted house lick Naoko starts out with is in
the same minor key. Or actually… the harmonic minor, not the natural minor,
but you can't tell that here, because she only uses the first part of it.
BONUS: the harmonic minor scale sounds Eastern (or Middle-Eastern, more
than specifically Japanese) but that makes it a bit more like Naoko is stealing
something that already belongs to her.
"Antonio Baka Guy" incorporates "Smoke on the Water"Honestly, I thought you were going to tell me they ripped off King Crimson,
because "Baka Guy" progresses much more like "21st Century Schizoid Man".
Have you seriously listened to
the Ritchie Blackmore guitar part?
There's no important resemblance, this song is all Naoko.
"Smoke on the Water" is not horrible. Unless you work at Guitar Center.
Such wonderful harmonies and unexpected melodic turnsIt almost sounds like a record that deserves a better grade than B+.
Musicianship on Rock Animals is far superior to earlier worksAgreed!
Let's Knife sounds way more pro than
Pretty Little Baka Guy,
and
Rock Animals is more assured than
Let's Knife. Practice makes
perfect. I think that also goes for some of the songwriting.
That didn't stop people from expressing their disappointment with
Rock Animals, something I don't completely understand.
Why not ding them for copying the Beach Boys on "Another Day"?
"Johnny Johnny Johnny" is a tribute to "Come Back Jonee" by Devo Put the bong down right now. You're just testing to see if I'll fall for that.
Disclaimerband.com is the personal web domain of Chris "Willie" Williams,
the creative force behind Disclaimer.
His work has been described as "simply unbearable."
www.impactpress.com/articles/summer05/musicrsummer05.html#cdreviews You may be tougher. See if you can bear it!
www.disclaimerband.com/hell.mp3 
