Although today he is remembered as a grunge legend, Kurt Cobain He was not limited to consuming that style of music, but, like any music lover, his musical horizon was extremely broad. One of the many bands that the Nirvana leader loved was Shounen Knifea female pop-punk group formed in 1981 by Michie Nakatani, Naoko Yamano and Atsuko Yamano.
Influenced by 1960s girl groups, pop bands, the Beach Boys and early punk rock bands like the Ramones, the Osaka-born trio gained recognition not only within their country but worldwide. Shonen Knife captivated millions of fans around the globe and one of them was Cobain, who admitted that his second album, burning farmtouched his most intimate fibers and brought him to tears.
In an interview with Melody Maker in the early 1990s, the American spoke about the album, stating:
“After a week of listening to it every day, I started crying. I just couldn’t believe that three people from a totally different culture could write songs as good as that because I’d never heard any other Japanese artist or music come up with something good.”
Cobain invited them to participate in Nirvana’s tour of Europe in 1992. Years later, in 2018, guitarist Naoko Yamano recalled: “When we were on tour with them, our backstage area was small and cold, but Kurt always invited us. to Nirvana’s big, warm room. I remember he gave me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, very American.”
