A devastatingly potent sugar shock of cutesiness à go-go, this Japanese punk-pop trio has notoriously devoted fans in famous American bands like Nirvana and Sonic Youth. But Rock Animals, like Shonen Knife's 1993 major-label debut, Let's Knife, may exhaust and exasperate listeners whose appetite for giggles isn't so extreme. On jingles such as "Little Tree," "Catnip Dream" and "Tomato Head," Michie Nakatani perseveres on bass, drummer Atsuko Yamano drops beats, and Naoko Yamano welcomes us to her own private paisley park – a kitsch holiday camp peopled by "regular boys" who love pingpong and kittens singing backup vocals. This shallow well has already been dried out by Jonathan Richman. (RS 677)

PAUL EVANS