This is a pretty neat moment for me. After close to 12 years, I get this moment to finally express my heartfelt gratitude to my college roommate who really, truly introduced me to all things Japanese in my freshman year of college. Yohei Bando was rad and great and chain smoked and laughed funny and loved Shaq and Toppo and getting me J-League soccer jerseys and wrestling tapes from Japan. He loved sharing his culture with me and save for that one time I woke up with pneumonia and he was getting busy, he was an ideal roommate.

It just so happened that Yohei also loved Shonen Knife [MySpace], who I still thought of (at that point anyway) as the opener for Nirvana on “that tour that I didn’t get to see because, well, my parents are super overprotective”. The all-female Japanese pop-punk band formed in Osaka in 1981 (damn, 27 years!) and sound like a 60s pop group stuck playing Buzzcocks covers. It’s adorably fun.

Thanks to Yohei, I knew all about “strawberry cream puff” and in the process of leaving my teenage years far in the dust, also learned just how to embrace my inner nerd. Shonen Knife are back out with a new album, Super Group, and US tour this fall, so come check out the video “after the jump”

[mp3] Shonen Knife – “Super Group”

Tour Dates

10-16 Fri – New York, NY – Santos Party House
10-17 Sat – Ithaca, NY – Cornell University
10-18 Sun – Toronto, Canada – Horseshoe Tavern
10-19 Mon – Detroit, MI – Magic Stick
10-20 Tue – Chicago, IL – Bottom Lounge
10-21 Wed – Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry
10-23 Fri – Missoula, MT – The Badlander
10-24 Sat – Seattle, WA – Tractor Tavern
10-25 Sun – Vancouver, Canada – Biltmore Cabaret
10-26 Mon – Bellingham, WA – The Nightlight
10-27 Tue – Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
10-29 Thu – San Francisco, CA – Rickshaw Stop *
10-30 Fri – San Jose – Blank Club *
10-31 Sat – Visalia, CA – The Cellar Door *

11-01 Sun – Oakland, CA – Uptown *
11-02 Mon – Los Angeles, CA – Echo *
11-03 Tue – San Diego, CA – Casbah *
11-04 Wed – Tucson, AZ – Plush
11-06 Fri – San Antonio, TX – Sam’s Burger Joint
11-07 Sat – Austin, TX – Fun Fun Fun Festival
11-08 Sun – Houston, TX – Numbers Nightclub
11-10 Tue – Baton Rouge, LA – Spanish Moon ^
11-11 Wed – Memphis, TN – Hi Tone ^
11-12 Thu – Atlanta, GA – E.A.R.L. ^
11-13 Fri – Richmond, VA – Plaza Bowl ^
11-14 Sat – Hoboken, NJ – Maxwells ^
11-15 Sun – Allston, MA – Great Scotts ^
11-16 Mon – Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church ^
11-17 Tue – Brookyn, NY – Brooklyn Bowl ^%
11-18 Wed – Buffalo, NY – Mohawk Place ^

* with Ty Segall
^ with JEFF the brotherhood
% with Golden Triangle

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