Dirty Dog! Cool Cat! Chicky Baby!
Last week, I promised to share some of the tunes that I purchased at Luna Music over the Fourth of July weekend. After a week and a half of off-and-on forgetfulness, trashed cars, and many cups of coffee, I'm finally ready to get down to business. Short, sweet, and to the point; that's how we aim to do things.
Also, Pee-Wee on Adult Swim? Best idea ever.
Shonen Knife - Under My Pillow. Generally speaking, the girls of Shonen Knife tend to divide more than unite. Strictly speaking, you're either hip to their infectious, J-Pop-by-way-of-Motown-and-Wesley-Willis slices of observationalism, or you hate puppies. You know, whichever. All kidding aside, after 25 years of producing music together, the girls seem happy with their roles as the journeywomen of Japanese rock. Their newest release, Genki Shock!, is the first since the death of drummer Mana Nishiura, and reveals, through tracks like this, that there's more to Shonen Knife that just sunshine, lollipops and rainbows. On this track, it is uncertainty, not joy, that creeps onto the nighttime scene. However, as is the case with most of lyricist Naoko Yamano compositions, things never get too scary; in the end, all it takes to vanquish the demons is a lucky charm under the pillow. If only the real world matched that of Shonen Knife's eternally hopeful Pollyannas. Genki Shock! is available through the Glue Factory.
BONUS: Shonen Knife - Heatwave (Martha and the Vandellas cover). The perfect summer song, and one of my absolute favorite covers of all-time. This is the sound of pop perfected. Find more like it on Shonen Knife's aptly-titled rarities compilation, The Birds and the B-Sides.
