It’s been a couple weeks now since Shonen Knife, Bobby Jealousy, and GALPALS demolished the indoor stage at Red 7. Our delayed coverage is attributable to editors’ schedule and certainly not to lack of enjoyment. When I first saw the bill, it made perfect sense—the promoters couldn’t have chosen better openers for the Japanese pop legends, with regard to both music and their emphasis on female led bands.
With each review I write for GALPALS, I’ve claimed the band exhibits an increasing tightness, and this show was no exception. However, beyond their cohesive playing, Jillian Talley and Lauren Mikus possessed a natural, relaxed poise that felt new. Tally and Mikus are falling into the groove and finding themselves as a band. Their songs haven’t changed, but they sound more their own now. GALPALS remain one of my favorite shows in Austin to catch at the moment.
Bobby Jealousy took the middle slot, and exceeded any expectations I could have imagined. My experience with the band was previously limited to a session I saw them do for Randall Larue’s Weekly Tape Deck. The group played in one of my good friends’ living rooms for an intimate and stripped down set, performing the song “Take You On.” Though I had later heard the more upbeat album version in the same friend’s car, nothing could have prepared me for the energetic onslaught and theatrical spectacle that occurred onstage. Sabrina Ellis electrified the entire evening, donning a Bowie-esque unitard. She wields the microphone stand like a bo staff, stomps, screams, and grins. Everyone is hooked. The band is tight, but more than that—they’re organically synchronized. The warmth the members exude with one another onstage spreads across my face as a smile, and I can’t remember the last time I was so enthralled by a performance.
Vacillating between punk, pop, soul, and a twinge of psychedelia, Bobby Jealousy always kept me on my toes. As I’m watching, I realize they’re everything that is great about pop and punk without the affectation and naïve pretension. Their music may sound like some bands you’re nostalgic for, but what they create differs distinctly. When they play “Take You On,” the song I first heard as a quiet, bedroom, acoustic tune, it thunders and roars. I don’t know how I made it this long without seeing an actual live set by this band, especially because I heard them play so long ago, but they’re certainly on my radar to see again soon.
By the time Shonen Knife came on, I was completely pumped, and so was everyone else in attendance. The room was packed. Sure, it was a Thursday, but I was still floored by just how crowded it was for these pop punk queens. I had no idea what to expect, but it has been years since they’ve played in Austin.
Cheers reverberated cacophonously when the trio made their way onstage wearing brightly colored matching dresses and tore into their set. The band mixed plenty of old songs with their new ones, speaking in their endearing, thick Japanese accents. Though visibly the band (at least core member and lead singer Naoko Yamano) has aged, their energy remains as adorable and youthful as ever. When Yamano introduced Emi Morimoto and Ritsuko Taneda on drums and bass, the two women waved and grinned like it their first performance.
Shonen Knife possesses a near magical ability to transform a crowd into teenagers again. I couldn’t help imagining the energy when one of my indie-rock heroes Calvin Johnson met the band on Beat Happening’s first trip to Japan in 1983. When the band launched into their classic, “Riding on the Rocket,” the night was complete for me. Not only were the punk goddesses pitch-perfect and unforgettable, but the line-up that came before them offered some of Ausin’s best music on the market. Shonen Knife won’t be back for a while, and when they are, you’d be silly to miss them. In the meantime, I recommend seeing the pop of GALPALS and Bobby Jealousy.
