The Grouchy Gaijin's Thoughts on Music and Such

Shonen means young boy in Japanese. Knife means knife in English - so I'm not quite sure what their name means. The band is made up of three really cute Japanese girls who play loud aggressive music.

Think of little girls wearing "Hello Kitty" paraphernalia  while digging on the Sex Pistols. It's a bit like The Partridge Family covering Iggy Pop tunes; the music is good, but it looks strange.

These girls can jam. The music is simple, a-la the Ramones. Each song on the album has a good hook and a decent guitar line. The drums are there and on beat, but she is definitely not a lead drummer. Don't expect any flash from the rhythm section; the bass and drums do their job. Nothing more. I actually find that refreshing. Do we really need another Tommy Lee or Alex Van Halen? I think not.

The best part of the album is the lyrical content. Make no mistake, the music is good and actually has some ripping guitar riffs, but the lyrics are just so…cute and sweet. One song called Little Tree tells us about a little tree in the garden and that it was a particularly hot summer. She worries about the little tree and doesn't want the earth to be bare. Before you write this off as more "enlightened rock musician crap" (I'd love to tell Bono to shut up and just play music. I don't really want to hear some Neo-Hippy trying to be the voice for social justice.) Keep listening to the album, my favorite song is Catnip Dream. There is a melodic introduction before we hear " He is a cat, but he is very very bad. He's not just a standard cat. Catnip is a Kitty Cat drug. One Puff Two Puffs Slide into a dream - I wonder what he dreams…

All in all the CD is good and worth a listen. The music is good. The lyrics are interesting. It is a surprise to say the least.