"OH, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet" said Rudyard Kipling but then If old Rudyard had ever heard these three Japanese women ripping through the songbook of one of America's greatest bands he would probably would've scurried into the Jungle as fast as Rikki-Tikki.
Shonen Knife (more HERE) have always worn their Ramones love on their matching sleeves, as evidenced by their recent track, "Ramones Forever", but perhaps their latest tribute might make East and West a little claustrophobic. It's not that the individual tracks like "The KKK Took My Baby Away" aren't charmingly accented pop-punk knock-offs but the sheer number of obvious choices ("Blitzkreig Bop", "Rockaway Beach", Sheena is a Punk Rocker") and the lack of any one element added to the songs themselves (the obvious aside) make this a less than earth-shaking way to mark Shonen Knife's 30th anniversary.
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ReplyDeleteWoW!
Looks like a great record!
Although I have only sampled bits of these covers (that is, the links to youtube, I have not downloaded the albums) and even though Ramones songs are thought to be simple and simplistic, you gotta say the Ramones do them much better...an attestation to the band's quality. Hearing Blitzkrieg bop after Supertramp at the grocery store does temper the enthusiasm, though.
ReplyDeleteJeffen
ReplyDeleteShonen Knife were great on Marc Riley's BBC 6Music show a few days ago.
Doug
Thanks for the comments Knife-lovers.
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