Shonen Knifes Happy Hour: Food, Gender, Rock and Roll

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Shonen Knifean all-female punk trio from Osaka, Japancultivated a global fan base that has included the likes of Nirvanas Kurt Cobain and Sonic Youths Thurston Moore. Their 1998 album Happy Hour, filled with tunes about delicacies ranging from sushi to banana chips, encapsulates the bands charming fusion of cuteness with punk rock cool. Tracing histories of food and josei rock in Japan, McCorkle Okazaki outlines the ways Shonen Knife has, over the last forty years, consistently used seemingly straightforward songs about food to comment on gender stereotypes in popular culture.

Author Bio

Brooke McCorkle Okazaki is Assistant Professor of Music at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, USA. McCorkle Okazaki co-authored the book Japan's Green Monsters: Environmental Commentary in Kaiju Cinema (2018) with Sean Rhoads. In it, they explore the various ways Japanese monster movies address contemporary ecological concerns. Thanks to a Japan Foundation Fellowship, McCorkle Okazaki is currently completing her next book, Searching for Wagner in Japan.