Shonen Knife - Pop Tune

All-girl trio Shonen Knife celebrated 30 years of their pop-punk career last year with a world tour, and they'll be embarking on another huge tour from July 2012 starting in the US. The recent announcement of UK and Ireland tour dates coincide with the release of their 18th album, Pop Tune, which was released on 6th June in Japan with the European version out 25th June.

Pop Tune is filled with, as expected, good old pop songs. The whole album seems to have been inspired by '60s laidback rock as well as punk, and it is all sung in English. Opening track Welcome To The Rock Club is a great punk track with the characteristic loud guitar strums at the forefront, and at only two minutes long is just enough to whet the appetite for the rest of the album. It has more attitude than the title track which follows straight after. Pop Tune is an uncomplicated, catchy bit of pop punk, featuring a fast pace and some very nifty harmonies from all the members. The Ramones are very often brought up when Shonen Knife are concerned because they have been a major influence on them—the girls do also play as the tribute band Osaka Ramones—and the influence is very clear in this track.

Sunshine, like Pop Tune, veers more toward the pop end of the spectrum and has a hint of Carpenters' tenderness. It sees bassist Ritsuko sing the lead, and her softer, youthful voice gives the track a sense of dewy-eyed innocence. Its simple chorus, where the backing vocals ascend and descend the A major scale as Ritsuko sings an octave higher, is especially sweet and reminiscent of nursery rhymes.

The band pays respects to the original members' hometown in the noisy Osaka Rock City. It's a joyful celebration of the city, where all the members join in to heartily sing the title in the chorus. It was also chosen as the theme song for the upcoming movie adaptaion of comic artist Robin Nishi's collection of stories set in Osaka: "Soul Flower Train." They give us more loud pop-rock in Ghost Train. Very heavy on the drum and bass, it's much rockier than some of the other tracks on the album. However the jovial repeating chorus of "Ghost Train, oh yeah" makes this more of a boisterous "Scooby Doo" adventure than a truly haunted one.

The girls have often sung about random and everyday subjects, and lead singer and guitarist Naoko has a gift for turning the seemingly mundane into an interesting topic du jour. All You Can Eat is about just that. It's a fun ditty, including a kazoo moment, about going to "fill yourself with food" and "chocolate marshmallow." The first half is like an instructional tape about how to conduct oneself at a buffet, with the remainder a simple hailing of the greatness of such restaurants. The problem is that after one listen it's hard to get out of your head and might come over you suddenly the next time you're faced with a chocolate fountain. The beginning of the psychedelic Paper Clip equally sees Naoko singing about the titular stationery and going to post letters, before it turns to the deeper matter of the journey of life accompanied by reverb effects. It features excellent vocal harmonies in the chorus that float the song off into a whimsical haze.

Psychedelic Life has to be the track that most effectively transports you to the '60s, not just because it features drummer Emi taking on the lead vocals to sing about "burning incense" and "flower power." She thumps out an almost tribal beat on the toms and Ritsuko provides a perfect deep, dreamy bassline. Emi's vocals are the highest and sharpest of the group, and so contrast well with the mellowness of the instrumentals. Partway through a recorder even joins in, and the trip to dancing round a fire covered in flower garlands at Woodstock is complete. It's psychedelic rock, but more of an homage that's expressed with greater lucidity than vintage examples of the genre.

Pop Tune is a happy and carefree album, full of catchy and mostly short songs that reel you in from the outset. There is enough variety to keep the interest throughout, and having the other band members sing the lead gives familar sounds a new twist. Naoko, responsible for writing most of the album, has written a collection of songs that are straightforward yet sincere. There are no hidden meanings here, just good tunes about the world seen through the eyes of Shonen Knife.

Check out the PV for Pop Tune below.