Melt-Banana – 3 + 5
A-Zap
Call it Japanoise, hardcore, noise-rock, grind-core, noise-punk (as yours truly did above) or what have you, but after 30 years of banging out inordinate chunks of brain-melting genius, Melt-Banana have become their own genre.
More from Spin:
- 5 Albums I Can’t Live Without: Andy Biersack of Black Veil Brides
- Zeal & Ardor Sound Burdened By Black-Metal Roots on ‘GREIF’
- Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore Celebrates New Album by Reflecting on His Solo Work
Across eight albums since 1994, Tokyo-based vocalist Yako and guitarist Agata have earned OG status through their singular form of punk-contorted, paint-peeling mayhem. There’s good reason why Melt-Banana’s range of devotees is so diverse—including avant-garde titan John Zorn (he released live album MxBx 1998/13,000 Miles at Light Velocity on his Tzadik label in 1999); the late, great Steve Albini (the Shellac legend recorded ‘95’s Scratch or Stitch and was a fan); and Mr. Bungle/Faith No More’s Mike Patton (the singer cameoed on ‘98’s Charlie).
Eleven years have passed since the duo’s previous slab: Fetch, a dizzying, amped-up maelstrom that ranks as one of their best. 3 + 5, Melt-Banana’s ninth LP, is not only worth the long wait, but it also takes their trademark noisy hardcore, lathered up in glorious Day-Glo sheen, to whole other levels of batshit wizardry. It finds Yako and Agata on a breathless mission, manifesting virtuosic precision on lightning-speed rippers that sound as if they’ll careen off the tracks at any moment.
One of the jaw-dropping features of 3 + 5 is its length—and all the colorful and shapeshifting detail that they cram into that time. In a mere 24 minutes, Yako and Agata immerse weirdly hooky songs (like “Code,” “Flipside,” and “Puzzle”) with video game-style electronics that ping, pong, and splatter—an experience both disorienting and exhilarating. The glitch-heavy effects, combined with the ostensible 45 RPM shrieks and frenzied guitar riffs, amounts to such a trippy experience that 3 + 5 should really come with a warning sticker.
In their third decade, Melt-Banana have, indisputably, made their most insane record and, arguably, their masterpiece. – GRADE: A-
To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.