brand of sticky sweet punk-pop. Comprised of members
originally formed during December of 1981 in their hometown of Osaka, Japan (all three members were working at the time as office clerks), before playing their first real show in March of the following year. Soon after, the group began issuing albums in their native land, including 1982's cassette-only release Minna Tanoshiku (English translation: Everybody Happy?), 1983's
, and 1986's Pretty Little Baka Guy (the latter of which was reissued with extra tracks four years later, under the title
). Although their records were only available in the U.S. via import,
struck a chord with the underground with a track of theirs appearing on the Sub Pop 100 compilation in 1986. Also, in 1989, a variety of alternative bands recorded renditions of their favorite
.
1990 saw the first
Shonen Knife release to be issued outside of Japan, a self-titled compilation that featured the entire
Burning Farm and
Yama No Attchan albums, as well as three tracks that were only previously available on the obscure Japanese comp Aura Music. Shortly thereafter, the group began touring America on a somewhat regular basis, supporting their 1991 release
712 with some dates opening for
Nirvana just prior to the runaway success of
Cobain and co.'s now-classic
Nevermind album. With
Shonen Knife now the hip band to name drop, the group signed their first major U.S. recording contract with Capitol, resulting in the release of one of their finest (and best-known) albums, 1992's
Let's Knife. A year later, the group switched to the Virgin label, issuing
Rock Animals, which would spawn a semi-popular MTV video with "Tomato Head" (even landing a spot on the station's popular animated series Beavis & Butthead).
1994 saw the trio perform as part of the traveling alternative rock festival Lollapalooza and contribute a cover of "Top of the World" to the
Carpenters tribute album
If I Were a Carpenter, while Virgin issued an 18-track collection of rare tracks,
Birds & the B-Sides, in 1996. Although they were able to greatly expand their U.S. fan base, the group never obtained the breakthrough success that was expected by many, resulting in
Shonen Knife returning to the independents and issuing such further releases as 1997's
Brand New Knife, 1998's
Happy Hour, and the 2000 Japan-only release Strawberry Sound (which featured the band's revamped lineup of
Atsuko Yamano on bass and
Mana Nishiura, who joined
Shonen Knife after
Nakatani left in 1999, on drums).
Vocalist Naoko Yamano was the only original member for the mid to late 2000s, but even after twenty-plus years, and difficulties maintaining a constistent line-up, the band showed no signs of slowing. In 2005, Oglio reissued the band's first four albums, and the band released
Genki Shock in Japan; late that year,
Nishiura was killed in a New Jersey traffic accident while touring with
DMBQ. Both
Shonen Knife and
DMBQ performed at a tribute concert for
Nishiura that was held in Kyoto in spring 2006, shortly before the U.S. release of
Genki Shock. Shonen Knife continued on with drummer Etsuko Nakanishi, releasing a live album and another full-length titled Super Group in 2009. A few months after completing 2010's Free Time, drummer Nakanishi parted ways with the band, to be replaced by Emi Morimoto.
–
Greg Prato, Rovi