Shonen Knife Live

Shonen Live at Summerhill, Edinburgh

Unbelievably, this year marks Shonen Knife’s 40th anniversary and the trio of pop-punk poppets are in a celebratory mood. Even more so, as the tour has been previously pandemically postponed.

Kicking off with an agenda-setting Konichiwa, the pace never drops below a buzz saw frenzy. Sisters Naoko (guitar, lead vocals) and Atsuko (bass) along with Risa (drums) form a non-stop head-banging, hair-flicking, perma-grinning whirlwind. If you are expecting subtlety and variation then you may well be in for a disappointment but if pure punk-pop fun is your bag then you are in the right place.

Shonen Knife’s songs live in their own little cartoon world. Song titles – Pop Tune, Banana Chips, Twist Barbie, Sweet Candy Girl, Ramen Rock, I Am A Cat, Buttercup (I’m A Super Girl) – give an indication of the band’s DayGlo universe.

Followers of Shonen Knife’s tour blog will know that the ladies take great interest n the various culinary delights available to them while on the road. “We’re happy to be back in Scotland,” says Naioko. “We love your sweets. We love your tablet”. For the uninitiated, tablet is a kind of super-dense, granular Scottish fudge variant consisting almost entirely of sugar and virtually guaranteed to trigger type 2 diabetes in anyone without Celtic DNA. Fortunately, it’s exactly what you need to power you through a ninety-minute non-stop gig.

It comes as no real surprise that Shonen Knife once led a double life as a Ramones tribute band; a song that sounds quite a lot like Blitzkrieg Bop turns out not to be. Later, as the final encore, a song that sounds a lot like Blitzkrieg Bob actually is. That wraps up what has been a fabulous night for both the band and the audience. It seems that the only thing more fun than going to a Shonen Knife gig is actually being in Shonen Knife. You’re unlikely to get the chance to do the latter but if the opportunity arises for the former, don’t miss it.