''Burning Farm'' is the first album by

Shonen Knife Shonen Knife is a Japanese pop-punk band formed in Osaka in 1981. Influenced by 1960s girl groups, pop bands, the Beach Boys, and early punk rock bands such as the Ramones, the band crafts stripped-down songs with simple yet unconventional ...

. It is almost entirely in Japanese, with only "Twist Barbie" on the original release in English. The Japanese 8" vinyl (Zero Records 0-0783) had eight songs. The CD re-issue bonus tracks "Parrot Polynesia", "Watchin' Girl" and "Banana Fish" first appeared on the Zero Records compilation LP ''Aura Music'' in November 1983. The other CD bonus songs are either "Watchin' Girl" and "Twist Barbie" live (

Oglio Records Oglio Records is an American record company started in 1993 by Carl Caprioglio. The label issues compilations of rare 1980s modern rock and new wave songs, many previously unreleased on CD. In addition to releasing new material by artists such ...

), or "Ukkari Hachibei" and a cover of The Ramones' " I Wanna Be Sedated" (

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

, Japan). The album's cover was painted by

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

ist

Michie Nakatani (born October 8, 1961) is a Japanese retired musician, best known as one of the founding members of the Japanese pop-punk band Shonen Knife. Biography Nakatani was born in Osaka, Japan, the only child of a homemaker mother and an accountant ...

. There are at least two pressings of the 8 inch record, with different labels and back covers. One back is black with a live photo, the other is yellow with a posed group photo. Both pressings misspell the third track as "Twist Birbie".

K Records K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington, founded in 1982. Artists on the label included early releases by Beck, Modest Mouse and Built to Spill. The record label has been called "key to the development of independent mu ...

released, in small quantities, ''Burning Farm'' on audiocassette in the United States with a different cover and track listing. In 1993,

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – ) was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and a founding member of the grunge band Nirvana (band), Nirvana. Through his angsty songwriting and anti-establis ...

listed it in his top fifty albums of all time.

Track listing

All songs written by Naoko Yamano, except where noted. #"Miracles" (Michie Nakatani) – 2:16 #"Parallel Woman" – 2:58 #"Twist Barbie" – 2:34 #"Elephant Pao Pao" – 2:15 #"Tortoise Brand Pot Cleaner" – 0:52 #"Animal Song" (Nakatani) – 2:09 #"A Day at the Factory" – 3:41 #"Burning Farm" – 4:30 K Records cassette version: #"Watchin' Girl" (Nakatani) – 1:58 #"Miracles" – 2:16 #"Parallel Woman" – 2:58 #"Twist Birbie" ''(

sic The Latin adverb ''sic'' (; ''thus'', ''so'', and ''in this manner'') inserted after a quotation indicates that the quoted matter has been transcribed or translated as found in the source text, including erroneous, archaic, or unusual spelling ...

)'' – 2:34 #"A Day at the Factory" – 3:41 #"Tortoise Brand Pot Cleaner's Theme" – 0:52 #"Animal Song" – 2:09 #"Banana Fish" (Nakatani) – 2:04 #"Elephant Pao Pao" – 2:15 #"Parrot Polynesia" – 3:07 #"Burning Farm" – 4:30

Personnel

Naoko Yamano is a Japanese musician, best known as a founding member, singer/guitarist, and primary songwriter for the pop-punk band Shonen Knife. She is the only member of the band to have remained throughout its entire history. After briefly working as a ...

– guitar, vocals *

– bass, keyboards, vocals *

Atsuko Yamano (born February 22, 1964) is a Japanese musician, best known as a member of the pop-punk band Shonen Knife. She formed the band in 1981 at age 17, along with her sister Naoko Yamano and Michie Nakatani. In the first incarnation of the band she ...

– drums, backing vocals *Kaoru Okuda, Hiroaki Fukumaru, Kazujisa Fukumaru – percussion on "Burning Farm" *Shin Hirakawa – percussion on "Parrott Polynesia"

References

Shonen Knife albums 1983 albums {{1980s-punk-album-stub