Shonen Knife – Adventure

Shonen Knife, by strength of statistics alone, have earned their legendary status ten times over. The revolutionary Osaka punk band are celebrating their 35th year with their 19th studio album; how’s that for longevity? What’s more, 2016’s Adventure welcomes the return of original drummer Atsuko Yamano after many different incarnations of the three piece – although she’s swapped her sticks for some hard-hitting bass lines.

Strap in for ten tracks of straightforward rockin’ elevated by inventive, playful riffs and typically whimsical lyrics; only Shonen Knife could write a madly catchy ode to 'hot hot wasabi' or illustrate a track titled Dog Fight with 'bow-wow' back-up vocals... and still sound totally bad-ass. Their obvious love of the Ramones’ weirder cuts is still alive and thrashing, and, admittedly, a lot of Adventure walks extremely familiar soil. By now, though, that's beyond the point. This Adventure’s at its most spirited when it’s straight-faced and faster-paced: Calabash, Tasmanian Devil and Rock’n’Roll T Shirt are electric, invigorating anthems for the SK-fandom, past and present. [Katie Hawthorne]