Shonen Knife @ Norwich Arts Centre
A band that every music fan should see
Cards on the table time. I love Mega Emotion. Songs like City In Shapes, next single Sick Burn, Luck Dragon and B R A I N S are just incredibly strong, industrial-tinged electropop. It’s just that the slightly shambolic, almost under-rehearsed presentation that I once found endearing is now starting to grate a little. I think I am in the minority here, as the band got a good response from the audience, with my companion for the night saying there was something a bit New Order and Communards about them. I am not sure the band will like that but at least I haven’t mentioned Pretty Hate Machine era Nine Inch Nails.
Someone (and I wish I could remember who) once said that if a cover version can’t be better than the original, it should at least be different to the original and Mega Emotion achieved that when they closed the set with Madonna’s La Isla Bonita.
Hailing from Cincinnati, Leggy are a trio peddling grungy punk. Songs like Peach, Sweet Teeth, Bruisers and Grrrls Like Us hint at the likes of UT, Frightwig, Husker Du and the Cramps. What sets them apart tonight is the bass, a fantastic Lemmy-meets-Novoselic sound. It is kinda strange that they have a deal in the UK but not in the US, but I can see them making it pretty big this side of the pond.
The last time I saw Shonen Knife was the best part of a quarter of a century ago, supporting Nirvana. Yeah, really.
They come in matching bacofoil outfits made by bassist Naru, flashing devil horns, indulging in synchronised headbanging and playing songs about green tangerines, wasabi, barbecue parties, capybaras and banana chips. Twee? Yes. Kitsch? Definitely. Don’t mistake that for throwaway and lightweight. Coming on like the Osaka Ramones, there are also hints of early Kiss, Dick Dale, The Ronettes and Budokan-era Cheap Trick, there is a depth to their punk-pop-surf songs that may not be expected.
Tonight’s show wasn’t a classic. The sound for the first song was terrible but credit to the soundman for fixing that very quickly. That said, there are some bands that every music fan should see once in their life. Shonen Knife is one of those bands.
