Taking Sides: Shonen Knife vs the Shaggs?

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Sure, maybe Shonen Knife may not have Tom Cruise rooting for them, but did the Shaggs ever do anything as qyeeeeuuwl as "Flying Jelly Attack"?

― Lord Custos, Saturday, 2 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I don't know who the heck the Shaggs are, but if Tom Cruise is rooting for them, well, that's one strike against them. My favorite Shonen Knife song is Public Bath:

I go public bath some night / It is near my house Mineral, bubble, electric bath / Is very good for my body

I like public bath X4

I'm looking forward to eat ice cream after my bathtime!!

― Ron Hudson, Sunday, 3 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I don't know who the heck Shonen Knife are, but they certainly can't have more twisted brilliance than the Shaggs.

― Jordan, Sunday, 3 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

its not really a valid comparison, the shaggs are more outsider art and the shonens are more pop-punk (albeit respected pop-punk).

― tyler, Sunday, 3 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Respected by who?

― adam, Sunday, 3 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

A Tom Cruise endorsement would certainly seem to be a critical kiss of death on the surface, but don't be fooled: The Shaggs all the way. The Shaggs' Philosophy of the World is quite possibly the greatest album of all time: never has there been an album where the participants had so little inkling of such musical basics as technique, pitch, tempo, melody or songwriting, and yet still turned out something utterly compelling. Listening to the album is like listening to something using microtonality--at the beginning it all sounds horribly wrong, like your head will burst if you keep listening to it, but eventually it actually starts to make a weird sort of sense. Back in my record store days, we sometimes kept a copy in the store just to play near closing time, when we wanted to get people to go home. Those who stayed were probably worth talking to, even if it meant staying at work a bit later.

On the other hand, Shonen Knife simply sounded like a cutesy but competent Japanese female Ramones.

― Sean Carruthers, Sunday, 3 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Note to Shaggs fans! The Raunchy Young Lepers are the yin to their yang.

― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 3 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

What's this about Tom Cruise?

The Shaggs were a thousand times more genuine than Shonen Knife.

― Alex in NYC, Sunday, 3 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

What's this about Tom Cruise?
He's making a biopic movie about the Shaggs.

― Lord Custos, Sunday, 3 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

This is very wrong of course. The Shaggs story is not Top Gun-meets-Jerry Maguire. No, really, I swear it isn't. Can't he make a Shonen Knife biopic instead?

― Curt, Sunday, 3 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Thats what I want. Or better yet, let somebody competent do a Shonen Knife biopic.

― Lord Custos, Sunday, 3 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I want a Jandek biopic. I want to play the man himself.

― electric sound of jim, Monday, 4 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Shonen Knife are much more brilliant, though they've sucked since around 1992. Their out-of-print '80s records are very, very good, and a lot more than just "pop-punk." They have a great sense of humour and range farther than you think in terms of musical styles and lyrics. Listen to Twist Barbie--it's not just a "kiddie" song, but a commentary on women's body image and on the ways that Hollywood has caused Asians to view themselves in comparison to whites. The best CD to get is the self-titled one on Rockville. There's another on Rockville that is also good and you can also try Let's Knife, which is has early-'90s re-recordings of lots of their best songs. A bit slicker, but very good and much easier to find. (It was on a major label is why.) What happened after 1992 is that they started listening to their ironic American fans and became a parody of themselves. But the early stuff was the real deal.

― Michael Ribas, Tuesday, 5 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I've got the Shonen Knife self-titled CD, and to me it's not that much better than their suck-period stuff. I'm not so sure they were as completely irony-free in the 80s as they're always made out to be. Not like the Shaggs were.

― Curt, Wednesday, 6 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

That should have read "supposed suck-period", and I should have emphasized that all 90s Shonen Knife isn't dramatically worse than their supposed pre-irony stuff. Thank you.

― Curt, Wednesday, 6 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

seven years pass...

Just logged onto this site to post about the change in Flying Nun ownership, and was surprised to see that I had posted here once before, under my real name--eight years ago!

Anyway, Curt no longer seems to be here any longer, but I'll debate him anyway. I spoke to lead singer, whatever her name is, at a recent show, and I asked her about Twist Barbie--did she really feel the way the lyrics state, or was it a "statement." She said that she really felt that way, and I felt bad for asking, as if I were placing a value judgment on her, which I suppose I was.

Anyway, I think that Shonen Knife was COMPLETELY irony-free. But what I like about '80s Knife more than '90s Knife is that they were less cartoony. There was more breadth in terms of the lyrical matter and musical styles. In the '90s, they seemed to allow themselves to be pigeonholed in terms of music an lyrics, as well as overall image. I guess their arc is somewhat similar to that of their idols, the Ramones, in that way.

― goldwax, Friday, 1 January 2010 17:54 (fifteen years ago)

three years pass...

"Banana Bike" on the new Dot Wiggins Band record sounds a lot like Shonen Knife.

― timellison, Friday, 8 November 2013 04:39 (twelve years ago)

Or Wiggin, rather. No s.

― timellison, Friday, 8 November 2013 04:39 (twelve years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.