Shonen Knife

The all-female musical band Shonen Knife is a Japanese pop punk/garage rock band, who sing songs both in Japanese and English. Among their fans are Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Redd Kross, and Sultans of Ping. They cite as their main influences 1960s girl groups and punk rock such as The Ramones. They have also performed as a Ramones tribute band under the name The Osaka Ramones. The band was formed in December 1981 with sisters Naoko Yamano (vocals and guitar) and Atsuko Yamano (drums) and their friend Michie Nakatani (vocals and bass). Michie Nakatani left the band in December 1999, with Atsuko Yamano performing bass. Mana Nishiura joined to take over on drums. Nishiura played her first live show with the band in May 2001; she left in 2004. (She was killed in a New Jersey highway accident November 4, 2005 while touring the U.S. with DMBQ.) Touring drummer Etsuko Nakanishi has been inducted as a permanent member as of May 2006.The band’s touring bass player(for two years) Ritsuko Taneda had been promoted to full member in October 2008.