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Shonen Knife On World Cafe

Shonen Knife performs live in the <em>World Cafe</em> studio on the heels of its 35th anniversary.
Tiana Timmerberg
/
WXPN
Shonen Knife performs live in the World Cafe studio on the heels of its 35th anniversary.

In 1981 in Osaka, Japan, three young women with a shared love of the Ramones, The Beatles and the Buzzcocks decided to quit their office jobs and start a band. 35 years later, the members of Shonen Knife have cemented their status as cult heroes and pop-punk icons. The band's musical canon includes playful songs like "Banana Chips," "I Am A Cat" and "Flying Jelly Attack," and its touring history includes eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with Kurt Cobain while on the road with Nirvana.

On the heels of Shonen Knife's 35th anniversary, the band visited World Cafe to share stories and play tracks off its latest studio album, 2016's Adventure. Hear the complete session in the player above, and check out the performance video of "Rock 'N' Roll T-Shirt" via VuHaus below.

Copyright 2021 XPN. To see more, visit XPN.

Talia Schlanger hosts World Cafe, which is distributed by NPR and produced by WXPN, the public radio service of the University of Pennsylvania. She got her start in broadcasting at the CBC, Canada's national public broadcaster. She hosted CBC Radio 2 Weekend Mornings on radio and was the on-camera host for two seasons of the television series CBC Music: Backstage, as well as several prime-time music TV specials for CBC, including the Quietest Concert Ever: On Fundy's Ocean Floor. Schlanger also guest hosted various flagship shows on CBC Radio One, including As It Happens, Day 6 and Because News. Schlanger also won a Canadian Screen Award as a producer for CBC Music Presents: The Beetle Roadtrip Sessions, a cross-country rock 'n' roll road trip.