| Our Best Place | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 15, 2023 | |||
| Recorded | Osaka, Japan [1] | |||
| Genre | Pop punk [2] | |||
| Length | 42:44 | |||
| Language | English, Japanese | |||
| Label | Good Charamel, P-Vine | |||
| Shonen Knife chronology | ||||
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Our Best Place is a 2023 studio album by Japanese pop punk band Shonen Knife. The album has been promoted with music videos and a tour and has received positive critical reception.
Our Best Place continues Shonen Knife's focus on writing food-related songs, expanding from the candy focus of 2019's Sweet Candy Power . [3] The band promoted the release with their first tour since the COVID-19 pandemic. [4] The band released a music video for "Mujinto Rock" on February 6 to promote the release. [1] The song "Just a Smile" is a cover of the 1975 original by the Scottish band Pilot. [5]
According to The Spill Magazine, the album returns Shonen Knife to "the playfulness of their early sound with the hard rock influence that they’ve adopted as of late", and that the album "is an eagerly anticipated return to their roots, especially for long-time fans." [6] ThePunkSite.com noted that "it’s an album that sees Shonen Knife do what they do best, just be themselves," while "there’s something timeless, life affirming and comforting knowing they will always be there if you need a pick me up." [7] Tim Sendra of AllMusic gave the album a favorable review, and concluded that "It's heartening to know that the band are still making records this good after so long, one that should put punk-pop groups half their age or more on notice." [8] Writing for PopMatters, Christopher J. Lee gave this album a seven out of 10, noting that the music "conforms to their past work, which, depending on your taste, is a good or bad thing" and also "an excellent example of this established approach". [9]
Editors at AllMusic included this on their list of favorite rock albums of 2023. [10]
CD-only bonus tracks
Shonen Knife
Additional musicians
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.
Genki Shock! is a 2006 album by the female Japanese rock trio Shonen Knife. The cover design was created by singer/guitarist Naoko Yamano's toddler daughter, Emma.
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.
Heavy Songs is a 2002 album by the Japanese rock group Shonen Knife.
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.
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.
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".
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.
Fun! Fun! Fun! is a pop-punk album by Japanese pop punk band Shonen Knife, released on July 6, 2007 on Blues Interactions Japan. The album marked the 25th anniversary of the band.
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.
Super Group is an album by the Japanese rock trio Shonen Knife. It was released in Japan on 7 November 2008, in the USA on 20 May 2009, and in the UK and Europe in 2010. The original Japanese CD issue was released as a mini-LP cartoon package with a gatefold and poster inside.
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.
Pop Tune is the 18th studio album by pop-punk trio Shonen Knife. It was released in Japan on June 6, 2012, and in early June in the U.S., U.K., and Europe. Along with lead guitar and main vocalist Naoko, the group's bassist, Ritsuko, provides the lead vocals for the song "Sunshine" and drummer Emi is the lead vocalist for the song "Psychedelic Life". "Osaka Rock City" was used as the theme song for the 2013 Japanese film Soul Flower Train.
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.
