With the biggest smiles in the universe Shonen Knife kicked in my teeth on Tuesday – twice!  

Once at Amoeba where they played a roaring set of 8 songs, including Capybara, the most gleeful song from their newest record, Free Time. Then at their set at Spaceland they opened up with Konichiwa, setting the tone for heat seeking rock and head bobbing joy. Shonen Knife have ebbed and flowed with punk/pop for the last 30 years and that’s enough to warrant mounds of respect from any person with a set of ears, but they prove that their taste can change over time – guitarist/lead singer Naoko Yamano is the last original member of the band, but her string work has aged like some fine, going from preppy/happy strumming in one song to blistering rock the next. Shonen Knife played twice in one day - about 6 hours apart, two amazing sets that would knock most bands on their butts. It’s funny that Shonen Knife, punk band from Osaka, Japan, are the ones to set the standard for amazing pop-punk.