Melt Banana @ the 7th Street Entry

Melt Banana torn it up at the 7th Street Entry the other night. And the audience joined in as they thrashed around in some sort of joyful post-punk frenzy. Listening to their music in the vacuum of headphones or a stereo is an experience in itself, but it is nothing like seeing them unleash their musical fury live. These are no random acts of noise, but a controlled aural experiment that I'm glad I was a part of.

As personalities, the band members were surprisingly unassuming. Agata performed earnestly, manipulating his guitar and his effects pedals mostly in the shadows. Yasuko Onuki was the power of the stage, belting out her searing vocals like nobody's business.

I bought Cell-Scape when it came out as a curiosity, and ended up spending a lot of time with it on my iPod. Since then, they released a singles CD (50 some songs!) and recently Bambi's Dilemma. Bambi's Dilemma is instantly recognizable as Melt Banana but offers further progression on exploring styles within their own style: wicked rock pop, ambient beauty, and 30 second blistering speed jams.

The place was packed by the time Melt Banana went on resulting in lots of sweaty bodies being flung around. The Bogs from Brooklyn NYC and local boys the Birthday Suits opened. A good time was had by all!



Much better photos at City Pages gallery HERE.