Melt-Banana (JP)

About

Also known as: Melt Banana, MxBx, メルトバナナ

Tokyo's Melt Banana have been a force of controlled chaos since 1992, blending noise rock and hardcore punk with electronica and pop song structures at speeds that can feel genuinely disorienting. Guitarist Ichiro Agata runs his instrument through heavy layers of effects and pedals, pulling sounds that resemble sirens and misfiring electronics, while vocalist Yasuko Onuki delivers what critics have called a "loud, piercing and unexpectedly authoritative" performance. Impressively, she writes all lyrics in English, a second language, which means she regularly digs through dictionaries, often landing on words purely because of how they sound. Since paring down to a duo for their 2013 album Fetch, they ditched the live drummer and bassist entirely, using a computer for rhythm to open up more room in arrangements. John Peel called their Peel Session "simply one of the most extraordinary performances I have ever seen and ever heard", which says a lot. Their influences stretch from The Sex Pistols to Aphex Twin and Atari Teenage Riot, and Agata has credited video games like Demon's Souls and Shadow of the Colossus as genuine creative sparks. In 2024, the duo released a new studio album titled 3+5.