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Shonen Knife

  • Date: April 14, 2018
  • Time:20:00
  • Location: Bedford
  • Venue: Esquires
  •  Buy Tickets

Shonen Knife + The Saboteurs

8pm, Saturday 14th April – Bedford Esquires

“When I finally got to see them live, I was transformed into a hysterical nine-year-old girl at a Beatles concert.” Kurt Cobain

 

Shonen Knife are a ground-breaking all-female Japanese, pop-punk rock trio formed in Osaka in 1981, when Naoko Yamana first heard late ‘70’s punk-pop, particularly The Ramones. Inspired, the band crafted their own idiosyncratic songs, fashioned brightly coloured outfits and DIY albums. In 1985, K Records released ‘Burning Farm’ in the United States. Deals with Sub Pop and various majors followed. 1989 saw the crème of the alt. rock scene (including Sonic Youth, L7 and Redd Kross) covering their favourite Shonen Knife songs on the tribute album ‘Every Band Has A Shonen Knife Who Loves Them’. They toured with Nirvana (on the ‘Nevermind’ tour), The Breeders, as part of Lollapalooza, wowed the Reading Festival and Roskilde, recorded sessions for John Peel and appeared on MTV’s ‘Beavis and Butthead’. The band returned to the UK after a gap of 16 years in 2009 and since toured regularly throughout Europe gaining many generations of fans.

 

2018 will be the band’s 37th year of rock and will see them release their 20th studio album. With no signs of slowing down, Naoko continues to say: “Let’s Rock!”Uncut Magazine: “While the fuzz-filled punk vibe is still present and correct, there’s also a hard rock thread running through Overdrive, with “Black crow”, about a bird that never shuts up, and “Ramen Rock”, a thunderous ode to their preferred noodle dish, containing unmistakeable nods to thin Lizzy and Black Sabbath

”NME: “…Pay close attention and the buzzing ‘Jet Shot’ and superficially banal ‘Shopping’ disguise personal and political lyrics far smarter than Shonen Knife’s cartoon image suggests.

 

”The Independent: (Simon Price) 8/10 “There are two types of people: those who enjoy thrashy Japanese girl-punk, and those who have something wrong with them.”Noisey “Shonen Knife Write Sick Songs about Cats, Cookies, and Cake”

 

The Sunday Times: (Stewart Lee) “…irrepressible slice of bounce-along indie-pop. Beguiling.”

Tickets are £12.50 adv, on sale now online from Seetickets & also available in person from Esquires Bar, Marios Hair Kempston & Slide Record Shop.