Shonen Knife's 18th studio album was released just a few days before the birth of my first child. Good timing, too, because its 10 tracks contain plenty of life lessons I intend to pass on to my beautiful baby girl.
The title track is a paean to pop (as indeed is Shonen Knife's entire 31-year career), and its life-affirming message about the value of music is a good place to start. "No need for anxiety, no need for politicians / All you need is pop!" squeals founding member Naoko Yamano, her guitar jangling a crude — but no less infectious — punk-lite arrangement.
On a more practical level, there's "All You Can Eat," a song so intrinsically Knife that it's a wonder they didn't write it 20 years ago (though like much of the album, it does recall 1992's "Let's Knife"). "When you go to an all you can eat, all you can eat, all you can eat / Don't forget to take some vegetables, vegetables, vegetables" — it's essential advice for any parent to pass on to their kids.
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