shonen knife / the shaggs

[DMatson%UMASS.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu (The Reverend Dave)]

>From: katefans@world.std.com (Chris'n'Vickie of Kansas City)
>Subject: OK, so I can have bad taste in music too...!

>Gee, I guess I'm the last person who should be all pretentious and uppity
>about musical taste because I love The Shaggs, and they're the second worst
>group in the history of the universe. Plus, I just paid good money for an
>album by THE worst group in the history of the universe--Shonen Knife.
>Guess what? I knew what they sounded like before I bought the LP (at least
>I didn't buy the CD, I had it in my hands though) and knew how bad they
>were! The group is 3 women from Japan and they're so bad that they make the
>Shaggs sound like they're ready for Carnegie Hall!
>They have a massively small cult following, especially in Los Angeles, where
>a bunch of punkers got together and recorded an album of Shonen Knife
>cover songs. It's got to be better than the original versions but I went
>ahead and got Shonen's album anyway. I haven't listened to the entire thing
>yet. I can only take a few second at a time. God help me if I ever get to
>actually really like it! Then again, that's what I said about The Shaggs :-)

oh come on, vickie, lighten up! The shaggs and shonen knife are two of
the most wonderfully innocent, commercially untainted, fun bands around.

The shaggs are three women (girls?) from Maine I believe, who have a sound
perhaps best described as "cheesy". They don't even seem to be playing
the same song at the same time, and yet it somehow all works together on
some super-conscious level. Plus, they have lyrics the like of "My Pal's
Name is Foot-Foot". Guaranteed to drive most people insane.(

Shonen Knife is even more charming. Their wonderful innocence shines through
in their music and lyrics. Some of the English translations are incredibly
sloppy and silly, and they still sing some parts in Japanese.
The Shonen Knife tribute album, "Every Band Hasa Shonen Knife Who Loves
You" is actually pretty bad since most of the bands do fairly straight
covers of the songs, and truthfully it just isn't the songwriting that
makes them a great band. It is the wonderful interpretation, presentation,
nispronouciations, and singing lyrics as in "Making Plans for Bison" such
as "He as the right to live, though he's ill shaped" in a serious manner.
This feeling is just lost in the cover versions of the songs.

Both bands are great fun and will really annoy people who take their
music too far too seriously.
I'd say each is a must.

     -dave