Melt Banana - Classic or Dud?

They were great last night, but better six weeks ago. I told my friend (who'd never seen them before) "they've been on tour for six weeks straight, so they seem a little low-energy." She turned and boggled at me. They did rev up all the way for the encore, though, inc. "My Generation." And I think my friend may be going to see them again in Montclair, NJ tonight.

Well, if you're going to go and compare things to the average enthusiasm of a Knitting Factory show, sure, things got intense. Bigger pit than at the Low show, even! But compared to what I was expecting for a MB show...

Uk please also thx

Saw 'em tonight at Dante's in Portland--as always "RRAGG" was the third song they played--I somehow think that's kind of hilarious. (Maybe it's because they also like looking at the crowd right after it to see who's never seen them before, because they're the people who have expressions on their faces like "did they just do that?") They also pulled out a cover of Devo's "Uncontrollable Urge." If there's a guitarist who uses pedals more expressively these days than Agata, I don't know who it would be. And I am very sure there's not a better English-language lyricist whose native language isn't English than Yasuko Onuki.

I only own Cell-Scape so far & fear I may never see them live :-(

I concur, that solo record is worth picking up. Fun and even pretty in parts. Also reminds you just how unfathomably great & out-there his riffage in the group set-up is.

xpost - I like that outro... more ambience than noise tho?

True... but it's a fine line, I suppose.

Teeny Shiny is like Cell-Scape v0.7. Pretty solid, but still not quite the amicable merge of pop and grindcore it should be.

Nov 6 2005 8:00P
Pavillion Theatre Brighton UK,
Nov 8 2005 8:00P
Fleece and Firkin Bristol United Kindom,
Nov 9 2005 8:00P
Medicine Bar, Custard Factory Birmingham United Kingdom,
Nov 10 2005 8:00P
Garage London United Kingdom,
Nov 11 2005 8:00P
AC2 Manchester, United Kingdom,
Nov 12 2005 8:00P
Oran Mor Glasgow United Kingdom,
Nov 13 2005 8:00P
The Georglan Theatre Teeside/New Castle United Kingdom,
Nov 14 2005 8:00P
Nottingham Trent Uni. Nottingham United Kingdom,
Nov 15 2005 8:00P
Clwb Ifor Bach Cardiff United Kingdom,
Nov 17 2005 8:00P
BBC session London United Kingdom,
Nov 18 2005 8:00P
tba Leeds United Kingdom,
Nov 19 2005 8:00P
The Adelphi Hull United Kingdom,
Nov 20 2005 8:00P
Garage London United Kingdom,
Nov 21 2005 8:00P
tba Southhampton United Kingdom,

bought my ticket for 10th november yesterday. phear me.

It is banana yellow.

(support slot last night was DJ Scotch Egg doing his usual GameBoy Gabba thing. divided the audience somewhat but i loved it)

My ears ringy. It's all good. I don't need to hear ever again.

I think they're a little disappointing on album, but the live show is amazing.

They covered Uncontrollable Urge & Neat Neat Neat, which was fun. So glad I went (I had to go on my own, as I suffer from a distinct lack of noisecore loving friends).

the BBC session mentioned above will be broadcast by Rob Da Bank, i think this thursday evening. (ie tonight)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/onemusic/exposed/meltbanana549p01.shtml

I'm seeing the Denver show in less than a week. Incredibly stoked!

they still got it!

I once saw Melt Banana play in a transvestite bar called the Blue Flamingo in Austin, Texas. The club where they were supposed to play (EMOS) had double booked, so they had to move next door. The club was the size a large kitchen. They set up in the corner of the bar (no stage, just the corner). I got up on a side ledge, with my head pressed up against the ceiling. Let me tell you a little somethin' somethin'......I've seen lots and lots of shows, and that particular show was the most motherfucking incredibly beautiful sonic assault on your senses I've ever experienced. The perfect hybrid of fuck-you punk rock, teeth melting noise, and on-time syncopation. And it was obvious that every person there, who could get in, realized how incredible that event was.

So Melt Banana is great. Really really great. And they're nice people, too.

― Gage-o

big shout-outs and much love to the Blue Flamingo. dungeons and drag bars, people. dungeons and drag bars.

-

i'm just gonna c&p my review of their live show from the "reunion bands" thread because i didn't get around to writing it up until just now

i don't think melt-banana broke up either... they've been touring, they just haven't released a record in 11 years. they're releasing a new one this year. i never saw them live before. they were pretty amazing to watch to be honest. it wasn't all older hipsters like at the deerhoof concert. or at least i don't think so, i look at 40 year olds these days and think they're young. it was pretty great because of how yasuko is using technology. she and agata showed up there and just fucking killed. their last album was their best one yet, but that was over a decade ago... and with them being a duo i wasn't sure how they'd be able to play their songs live. i figured it'd be a lot of playing to backing tracks.

and what they did wound up being way cooler than that. yasuko had her phone out and she was using it to change up the bass and drum patterns on the fly. it's the first time i've ever seen technology used to create something that doesn't sound like singing to a backing track like on _top of the pops_ or some dude sitting behind a laptop. they were full-band songs performed by a duo but had the freedom of interpretation that i'm only used to hearing from rock groups - the songs _didn't_ sound exactly like the albums at all. it was felt like she was using the rhythms to kind of conduct the mosh pit. there was a mosh pit, too! they're a noise-rock duo of people in their like 50s and people were out there moshing. i was out there moshing, even though i regretted it. i'd rather hear melt-banana play "uncontrollable urge" than hear DEVO play "uncontrollable urge". devo are cool and all but i've never seen them and never really wanted to.

turns out yasuko is a guest vocalist on an album by a group called _squid pisser_, on the title track. it sounds great! yasuko sounds amazing!

tbf they've been doing that for ages, their last album was a duo as well, I saw them in 2014 for that and it was the same set up

Been trying to think back and they were doing it in 2010 as well, although I think it was more band structured rather than random squalls.

tbf they've been doing that for ages, their last album was a duo as well, I saw them in 2014 for that and it was the same set up

― Colonel Poo

i'm not necessarily always on the cutting edge, haha, 22 years ago being in the Blue Flamingo would have made me really uncomfortable for reasons i wouldn't have been quite able to articulate

they still had a backing band on the 2010 tour, I saw them then as well

pigeons on my eyes

Theirs remains one of the most amazing shows I've ever seen. There was this palpable ENERGY winding through the crowd that felt like you could've easily been swallowed up by the sea of bodies and would've been utterly menacing if the overall vibes hadn't been super-positive. It was like being in a venue-wide mosh pit comprised entirely of your family and loved ones.

“Backing band” is a bit impersonal; Rika was their bassist for about 20 years before she left, or was dismissed, I don’t actually know what happened there. I hope it wasn’t a Janet Weiss-style shitcanning.

I saw them on that 2010 tour as well, and then again a few years later as a duo, and yeah they were better as a full band to me. I wouldn’t go out of my way to see them again. I am looking forward to the new album, though.

Saw 'em last night and can confirm it was awesome. Most energetic & punk live experience I've had in years. Never had the chance to see them as a fully-live unit but I also don't feel like I missed out on something. Maybe I did! But I'm more than satisfied with what I got--it was magic

Was that in Baltimore? Haven’t been to that place and wasn’t able to make it up there

Philly was last night, Baltimore is tonight. Which I was gonna get tix for but it was sold out by the time I got to it. :(

I have to decide between Melt-Banana and Prolapse, they are playing the same night. I was going to see Prolapse but then the new album announcement... Also I can just walk down the sea front instead of getting a train to London, I think Melt-Banana might win this one

correct choice imho

but I just played Psychotic Now by Prolapse and now I don't know anything any more. I might have to flip a coin

Digging the new one 3+5 a lot!

Me too

fantastic gig last night - i haven’t seen them for… over a decade, and it’s a riot, these exploding violent toy boxes of songs, full of paradoxes - intricate assaults, threatening fun etc. sweat was dripping off the ceilings so heavily it was like rain.

qujaku were a really fantastic support as well. doomy and v heavy, occasionally two drummers, a touch of goth and grinding sludge interspersed with mangled explosions of guitar and screaming.

best gig of the year without question.

tho, per CP, Prolapse were a lot of rather chaotic fun the night before.

Digging the new one 3+5 a lot!

I wasn't told about this gig and the my friend was sending me pictures from it. My fault I guess lol

unfortunate! i feel qujaku would be up your street tho i hesitate to say this as psychedelic doomy swans influenced rock is probably something on which you’ve probably got strong opinions. anyway i am also enjoying their 2018 album tho the live experience was x10. i particularly liked the last track they played which had a sort of Peter Gunn flavour to it.

on first listen new album is excellent, welcome back after a decade