| Happy Hour | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 23, 1998 | |||
| Genre | Pop punk | |||
| Length | 39:19 | |||
| Label | Big Deal | |||
| Shonen Knife chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| PopMatters |   [2] |
Happy Hour is a 1998 album by the Japanese rock trio Shonen Knife. The cover artwork is by Yoshitomo Nara. It is the last album by the group with their original bass guitarist, Michie Nakatani.
Ahead of the album's release, "Banana Chips," was released as an official single. The European edition of the CD single included three versions of the song: the English version, the Japanese version, and a remix called the "EYƎ Mix." The Japanese edition of the CD single included the Japanese mix and the EYƎ Mix, as well as two other remixes.
A music video for the song was released. It is animated, and features the members of Shonen Knife as animated performers, performing for a crowd of bananas. [3]
"Banana Chips" received mixed reviews from music critics. Allmusic, in their review of "Happy Hour," stated that the song held "fast to" the group's "usual obsessions," [1] while PopMatters called the track "frolicking." [2]
The album garnered mixed reviews upon its release. PopMatters' Sarah Zupko praised the album and said that "Happy Hour is rolicking frolick through bubblegum pop culture—all perfect pop melodies, shiny choruses, and songs about cookies, hot chocolate, sushi, and banana chips," concluding that "this record is one helluva guilty pleasure." [2] Allmusic's review, written by Jason Ankeny, was less positive, stating " the Shonen Knife aesthetic has become pure formula, and the joke just isn't that funny anymore." [1]
Musicologist Brooke McCorkle Okazaki's book on the album for the [33 1/3] Japan series considers the band's positioning as "josei rock"--music by women not fitting neatly into mass-marketed categories--and the expression of gender and food culture in their songs. [4] [5]
All songs written by Naoko Yamano, except where noted. [1]
Notes:
Shonen Knife is a Japanese pop-punk band formed in Osaka in 1981. Influenced by 1960s girl groups, pop bands, the Beach Boys, and early punk rock bands such as the Ramones, the band crafts stripped-down songs with simple yet unconventional lyrics sung both in Japanese and English.
Atsuko Yamano is a Japanese musician, best known as a member of the pop-punk band Shonen Knife. She formed the band in 1981 at age 17, along with her sister Naoko Yamano and Michie Nakatani. In the first incarnation of the band she played drums, but switched to bass when Nakatani departed in 1999. Yamano is also a fashion designer and creates many of the band's stage outfits. Yamano retired from Shonen Knife in 2006 to marry, and moved to Los Angeles. During the next several years she occasionally toured with the band but did not play on their studio albums. She returned to the band as a full-time member in 2016.
Naoko Yamano is a Japanese musician, best known as a founding member, singer/guitarist, and primary songwriter for the pop-punk band Shonen Knife. She is the only member of the band to have remained throughout its entire history. After briefly working as a receptionist in a doctor's office, she formed the band in late 1981 with her college friend Michie Nakatani and her younger sister Atsuko Yamano. Naoko Yamano is known for her songs about food and animals, with music that is primary influenced by the Ramones and the Beatles.
Candy Rock is a 2003 album by the Japanese rock group Shonen Knife. It is one of their few albums not to be released in the United States. All of the songs are sung in Japanese.
Brand New Knife is a 1997 album by the Japanese rock trio Shonen Knife. The Japanese version of this album contains six tracks with English lyrics and seven versions of the tracks with Japanese lyrics. The U.S. version features all 13 tracks in English, with the Japanese versions of the seven tracks featured as bonus tracks. In 2020, Jonathan McNamara of The Japan Times listed it as one of the 10 Japanese albums worthy of inclusion on Rolling Stone's 2020 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Rock Animals is a studio album by Shonen Knife. It was originally released on September 8, 1993 in Japan. It peaked at number 59 on the Oricon Albums Chart, as well as number 39 on Billboard's Heatseekers Albums chart.
Let's Knife is a studio album by Shonen Knife. It was originally released on August 26, 1992 in Japan. The album features re-recorded versions of earlier Shonen Knife songs, with new English lyrics. It peaked at number 64 on the Oricon Albums Chart. In 2007, Rolling Stone Japan placed it at number 37 on its list of the "100 Greatest Japanese Rock Albums of All Time".
712 is a 1991 album by the Japanese rock trio Shonen Knife. Using goroawase, "712" can be read as "na-i-fu", the Japanese imported word for "knife".
Pretty Little Baka Guy is a 1986 album by the female Japanese rock trio Shonen Knife. It was re-released in the US as side one of a record/tape, with side two being Live In Japan. There have been many releases of this album in various countries over the years, with each release containing different rare tracks.
Yama no Att-chan. is the second album released by Japanese pop punk band Shonen Knife and is almost exclusively in Japanese. The album was named after Atsuko, their drummer, the honorific "-chan" being added. The title thus functions as a pun, since the drummer's name, when rendered in the traditional Japanese style, is Yamano Atsuko.
Strawberry Sound is an album by the female Japanese rock group Shonen Knife, released in 2000. It was their first album without founding member Michie Nakatani. It was released only in Japan.
Michie Nakatani is a Japanese retired musician, best known as one of the founding members of the Japanese pop-punk band Shonen Knife.
Tokyo Encore was the final release by Gumball. After leaving Columbia Records at the end of 1994, the band released a live album compiled from the band's 1993 tour of Japan and sold through their fan club on their own T.E.C. Tones label. Gumball were joined on stage by members of Shonen Knife during the performance. The album features live covers of songs by The Beatles, Deep Purple, and the Germs.
Burning Farm is the first album by Shonen Knife. It is almost entirely in Japanese, with only "Twist Barbie" on the original release in English. The Japanese 8" vinyl had eight songs. The CD re-issue bonus tracks "Parrot Polynesia", "Watchin' Girl" and "Banana Fish" first appeared on the Zero Records compilation LP Aura Music in November 1983.
Minna Tanoshiku or Everybody Happy is the first release by the Japanese rock band Shonen Knife. It was released in cassette-format only in 1982 in the band's native Japan. The first 50 copies were released by the band themselves, and the insert features the lip prints of the three band members, although Michie Nakatani once said that the lip print was by her grandmother. An additional 20 copies, without the lip inserts, were pressed by Zero Records before the band requested that further pressings be ceased.
Osaka Ramones is Japanese pop-punk group Shonen Knife's 16th studio album. All of the songs on the album are cover songs of the punk group Ramones. The album's cover art takes its inspiration from the Ramones album Road to Ruin. Five songs on the album were recorded in at GCR Audio in Buffalo, New York with Producer Robby Takac in late 2010 and it was intended to be a mini-album. Lead singer/guitarist/songwriter Naoko Yamano later decided that Osaka Ramones would be a full-length album celebrating Shonen Knife's 30th anniversary. The rest of the album was later recorded in Osaka, Japan and mixed at GCR Audio.
Overdrive is the 19th studio album by Japanese pop punk trio Shonen Knife. It was released on April 14, 2014 in Europe, and on April 16, 2014 in Japan. According to band leader Naoko Yamano, because their album Free Time (2010) was heavily influenced by punk rock, and Pop Tune (2012) had explored a more pop-oriented sound, Overdrive was a chance for the band to explore a more hard rock sound. The album's lyrics cover a wide array of topics, from green tea, fortune cookies, and cats.
Adventure is the 20th studio album by pop-punk band Shonen Knife. It was released in 2016. According to Bob Lange of Glide Magazine, Adventure is Shonen Knife's most rock-oriented album. According to Anna Rose, the lyrics of the songs in the album are upbeat. To promote the album, the band went on its "2017 USA Ramen Adventure Tour".
Sweet Candy Power is a studio album by the Japanese pop-punk band Shonen Knife, released in June 2019. It features guest appearances by former band members Ritsuko Taneda and Naru Ishizuka.
Alive! In Osaka is a 2018 live video album from Japanese pop punk band Shonen Knife.
