Happy Hour (Shonen Knife album)

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.

Happy Hour
Studio album by
Shonen Knife
ReleasedJune 23, 1998
GenrePop punk
Length39:19
LabelBig Deal
Shonen Knife chronology
Brand New Knife
(1997)		 Happy Hour
(1998)		 Strawberry Sound
(2000)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]
PopMatters[2]

"Banana Chips"

Release

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.

Music Video

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]

Reception

"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]

Critical reception

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]

Track listing

All songs written by Naoko Yamano, except where noted.[1]

  1. "Shonen Knife Planet"
  2. "Konnichiwa"
  3. "Cookie Day"
  4. "Hot Chocolate"
  5. "Sushi Bar Song"
  6. "Fish Eyes" (Michie Nakatani)
  7. "Banana Chips"
  8. "Dolly"
  9. "Jackalope" (Nakatani)
  10. "Gyoza"
  11. "Catch Your Bus" (Nakatani)
  12. "People Traps"
  13. "His Pet"
  14. "Daydream Believer" (John Stewart)

Notes:

Personnel

References
  1. "Happy Hour review". Allmusic. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
  2. "Album review - Happy Hour". PopMatters. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
  3. ""Banana Chips" music video". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
  4. McCorkle Okazaki, Brooke. 2020. Shonen Knife's Happy Hour: Food, Gender, Rock and Roll. Bloomsbury Academic, ISBN 9781501347948, https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/shonen-knifes-happy-hour-9781501347948/
  5. McCorkle Okazaki, Brooke, and Nathan Hopson. "Shonen Knife's Happy Hour." New Books Network, July 15, 2021, https://newbooksnetwork.com/shonen-knifes-happy-hour
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