You know how i’m always blabbering on about the beauty and virtues of noise-rock and how it’s always being ignored? Well, this is what i’m talking about. This record is noise rock perfection. There are noisy bands i like more, for various reasons, but Melt-Banana most accurately encapsulate, to me, what noise-rock should be:

• Songs written around noises and feedback instead of guitar riffs and chords
• A solid rhythm section injecting structure and drive into the songs (and ensuring that they are “songs” and not “pieces” or “compositions”)
• Vocals that are sometimes catchy, sometimes abrasive and always dangerous

Melt-Banana is a group of four ridiculously talented musicians from Japan (except for sometime fill-in drummer Dave Witte, formerly of Discordance Axis) who for some reason want to peel the enamel from your teeth and the flesh from your face (and if you ever see them live, they will. Make no mistake–this is one of the most intense, insane, brutally crazy live bands i have ever seen. It’s also a hoot to watch the crowd of guitar players who inevitably gather around Agata to see exactly just what the fuck he’s doing with his guitar to make it sound like that. And no, they can never quite figure it out). I was introduced to them in 1999 thanks to my future bandmate Reno Loner, who was hanging out with the rest of my future band and had brought a copy of Charlie up to the Fox Valley from Madison to play for us. “I saw these guys open for Mr. Bungle at the Barrymore and they blew my mind.” Hell, you just have to say “opened for Mr. Bungle” and i’m sold.

I’ve talked to people who like their earlier records like Scratch or Stitch better, and i’ve heard from people who have said they prefer the later discs, Teeny Shiny and Cell-Scape. I can see why, and it usually depends on what the listener prefers. Scratch or Stitch is rawer, and covers a period of Melt-Banana’s evolution where short, concentrated blasts of hardcore frenzy were a higher priority than songwriting. On the other hand, Teeny Shiny and Cell-Scape chronicle the band as they not only refine their songcraft, but introduce a genuine pop sensibility. I’m forced to concede that in the case of Cell-Scape, the pop hooks may clinch the argument for it being a stronger album overall (the hooks on Teeny Shiny, though, don’t save it from some strange compression that makes the album sound less LOUD than it should), but Charlie perfectly bridges the transition between hardcore and pop, and it was my first. So, since this is a list based on subjective qualifications, it wins because it holds a closer place in my heart, as do the Melt-Banana classics “Spathic” and “Tapir’s Flown Away,” which both appear back-to-back.  

Melt-Banana are truly the prototypical noise-rock band, and on top of that, they’re one of the best live bands i’ve ever seen. Sure, their hardcore influences attract a fair number of meatheads to their shows, but still, they cannot be missed if you have a chance to see them. They will scare you, disturb you, and kick your scrawny indie-rock ass. And Charlie will do the same, only you’ll be in the confines of your home when it happens, so you’ll feel extra-violated.

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