10 great new tunes from the Japan's best
Oleg Bocharov | Moscow, Russia | 05/26/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"It's a miracle that after 28 years of (hyper)activity the punk trio is still able to put out such a fresh and exciting rock and roll. "Super Group" is a 143th or 287th Shonen Knife's album, and it rocks in every possible way.
It delivers more fun than last Green Day's cd's, and even more energy, than most of the 90's Shonen Knife's releases. And it's much more Ramoneish, than their 80's albums. 'Super Group', 'Time Warp' and 'Na Na Na'are among the best songs."
If You've Ever Been A Fan...Get This!
Robert H. Knox | Brentwood, NH United States | 06/25/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"For the first time in nearly a decade, Shonen Knife is officially a trio again! New bassist Ritsuko (Denki Candy) joins Naoko and Etsuko for this outstanding album. I got SUPER GROUP straight from Japan when it was first released in November of 2008 and haven't regretted it for a second. The classic SK elements are here: animals (SLUG, DEER BISCUITS), food (BBQ PARTY), power pop (SUPER GROUP, NA NA NA) and hard rockers (MUDDY BUBBLES HELL, PYRAMID POWER, TIME WARP, YOUR GUITAR). A great cover of Paul McCartney's JET rounds out the package. And check out those photos: kawaii desu ne!
I have heard just about enough from so-called "fans" who claim that Shonen Knife has been no good since 1999, when founding bassist Michie retired. I thought Michie was great, but Naoko is certainly no slouch, and let's not forget that even in the early days, most of the songs were Naoko's. I own every SK album released since then, and they are all fine efforts. Naoko deserves our thanks for keeping the Shonen Knife flag flying through difficult times, and she still writes catchy and fun songs.
BREAKING NEWS: It was recently announced that SUPER GROUP will get a USA release in August of 2009, and a USA tour will follow! If you've ever been a SK fan, I urge you to get SUPER GROUP...chances are excellent that you'll be very glad you did. And don't forget: GIRLS ROCK!
A quick follow-up: Unlike every previous Japanese version, every song is sung in
English! A USA version was released in August of 2009, and is apparently only
available through the record company's site- just do a search and you'll find it.
A bonus song, "Evil Birds". is included. I saw SK on the SUPER GROUP tour, and
they rocked my socks off! They are even doing Michie's songs again, with Ritsuko
handling the vocals: sweet! A new album, FREE TIME, is scheduled for a Japan
release in January 2010...kool!"
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1