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Melt-Banana

Sep 17, 2024 By Jimi Arundell Photography by Jimi Arundell Web Exclusive

Tokyo extreme noise rock band Melt-Banana hit Hull to promote their new album 3+5. The Adelphi may be a farcy from their pristine hometown’s futuristic backdrop complete with supertall skyscrapers, but somehow the slightly squalid toilet venue with its low stage and intimate feel is the perfect place to experience the sheer ferocity and insanity of one of the world’s most intense bands.

3+5 is Melt-Banana’s ninth album and their first full-length record release in eleven years. Back in 2011 the band also shed their live rhythm section, and now features just vocalist Yasuko Onuki, guitarist Ichiro Agata whose pedal board looks like the control panel of the Starship Enterprise plus a drum machine and pre-recorded samples. The pair previously destroyed eardrums at Adelphi thirteen years prior and don’t look like they’ve aged a second whilst all eardrums have been ringing ever since.

Despite being half their former number, there’s certainly no reduction in volume nor energy as the now two-piece blast through a frenzied set at a truly staggering pace. We’d love to give you a blow-by-blow account of every song they played. But let’s face it, does anyone really know which track is which? The hyper-speed riffs and frenetic vocals pretty much zoom into a single stream of consciousness, tapping into everything from grindcore to hyper-pop faster than an amphetamine addict’s messed-up mind could ever process.

Agata’s dazzling fretboard athletics threaten to set his guitar on fire, matching the incredible heat generated by the packed moshpit (Absolutely mafting, as we say locally). Onuki’s surrealist lyrics barked at an ever-increasing rate are incomprehensible to a room of non-Japanese speaking Hullians yet every syllable makes perfect sense as part of the sonic assault enjoyed by the excited audience. If you haven’t seen Melt-Banana, you’re missing out on one of the greatest live music experiences you’ll ever have.

Support came from local loudmouths Couture who managed to pack more energy into a twenty-minute set than most bands do in their entire careers. Building from an ominous start and accelerating rapidly into a brutal cacophony that’s done some long-term ear damage to all present, their uncompromising blend of hardcore punk and sludge metal presses all the right buttons.

Their drum kit takes some serious punishment, being pummelled at a thousand beats per minute along with blazing guitars before it all goes slow and sexy with singer Andrew Murphy bellowing death-curdling screams and launching himself into slightly dazed onlookers. Short but anything but sweet and ending with a killer cover of Frostbite’s “The Blizzard of ‘93”, Couture are teeth-grindingly good. Expect big things from this wicked band in the near future.