Shonen Knife

Shonen Knife is a Japanese alternative rock band from Osaka, appearing at Brudenell Social Club in Leeds. The all-female trio plays feelgood pop-punk built on punk and rock influences.

Shonen Knife was formed in Osaka in 1981 by the sisters Naoko and Atsuko, and the group has remained an all-female trio. The band signed to Universal Music Japan and released its first album, みんな楽しく少年ナイフ, in 1982. In its early years it played imported Ramones covers, and it is credited as an influence on alternative rock acts including Sonic Youth and Nirvana.

Their songs combine a playful, slightly surreal approach with punk and rock roots, as the title Tortoise Brand Pot Cleaner suggests. The back catalogue ranges from thrash rock to hit-parade melodies. Like the Japanese group The 5,6,7,8s, they have kept to their own style of pop-punk through decades of changing musical fashions, and they continue to perform with evident enthusiasm.

Brudenell Social Club, at its origin a working men's club, now mainly hosts pop, rock and indie concerts, so the night suits listeners who follow those styles.