Damnably & Go Ape Present: Shonen Knife 35th Anniversary Tour

Event information

plenty of tickets on the door

Shonen Knife, the all-female Punk/Rock/Pop band from Osaka, Japan, return to The Fleece to celebrate their 35th anniversary and 20th studio album release.

"When I finally got to see them live, I was transformed into a hysterical nine-year-old girl at a Beatles concert." Kurt Cobain

Shonen Knife are a ground-breaking all-female Japanese, pop-punk rock trio formed in Osaka in 1981, when Naoko Yamana first heard late '70's punk-pop, particularly The Ramones. Inspired, the band crafted their own idiosyncratic songs, fashioned brightly coloured outfits and DIY albums. In 1985, K Records released 'Burning Farm' in the United States. Deals with Sub Pop and various majors followed. 1989 saw the crème of the alt. rock scene (including Sonic Youth, L7 and Redd Kross) covering their favourite Shonen Knife songs on the tribute album 'Every Band Has A Shonen Knife Who Loves Them'. They toured with Nirvana (on the 'Nevermind' tour), The Breeders, as part of Lollapalooza, wowed the Reading Festival and Roskilde, recorded sessions for John Peel and appeared on MTV's 'Beavis and Butthead'.
More recently, Shonen Knife have played Matt Groening's curated ATP festival, toured the UK, Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand, China and India. They released the classic albums Supergroup, Freetime, Osaka Ramones, Poptune and Overdrive to critical acclaim and recorded regular BBC6 Music sessions for Marc Riley and Gideon Coe.

2016 will be the band's 35th year of rock and will see them release their 20th studio album. With no signs of slowing down, Naoko continues to say: "Let's Rock!".

The Independent (Simon Price): 8/10 "There are two types of people: those who enjoy thrashy Japanese girl-punk, and those who have something wrong with them."
Noisey: "Shonen Knife Write Sick Songs About Cats, Cookies, and Cake"
The Sunday Times (Stewart Lee ): "...irrepressible slice of bounce-along indie-pop. Beguiling."
Uncut: "rocks like Motorhead designed by Hanna-Barbara"

www.damnably.com/shonen-knife/
www.shonenknife.net/index.html
www.facebook.com/ShonenKnifeOfficial
twitter.com/ShonenKnife
www.facebook.com/damnablylondon

Wussy (US)

Springing forth from the hinterlands of Cincinnati, OH is Wussy, a US 5-piece bridging the gap between The Band & Sonic Youth, Wussy continues in the tradition of bands with multiple writers and singers. They formed in 2001 as a result of an impromptu performance & even now are known among the press & their cult following for their spirited, off-the-cuff live shows.

Well-loved both by fans and critics alike - racking up multiple 4 star reviews in Rolling Stone, SPIN, Uncut, and Artrocker - plus high praise from Pitchfork, The New York Times, Slate, NPR, BBC, Washington Post, Magnet, The Guardian, Village Voice, The Stranger, LA Review of Books, PopMatters & many more. In 2014, their album Attica landed at a stellar #24 in the Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop Critics Poll.

"America's best songwriting band might now be among its best soundscaping ones" - SPIN

"It's a swaggering, bleary, distorted churn topped off by another virtuoso vocal duet from Walker and Cleaver." - Stereogum

"Maximum singability and staying power" - Pitchfork

"Recalling a roll call of adventurous boy/girl-styled indie bands - Yo La Tengo, Handsome Family, X - Wussy draws on plenty of yin/yang sexual & existential tension, a charmingly shambling, rough-hewn sound & an army of alternately droning & jangling guitars on their sharpest outing yet." Uncut

"Mega-tuneful songs that can get under your skin something fierce." Rolling Stone

"The best band in America." Barnes & Noble Review

www.wussy.org
www.facebook.com/wussymusic
www.twitter.com/wussymusic