This past Monday, we drove from Nashville to Atlanta. The quick trip takes us past Manchester (right before Bonnaroo), through the hills and valleys of southern Tennessee, and past the glory that is the northern Georgia Buc-ee’s. As soon as we arrive in Midtown, it’s off to Terminal West, and as soon as the show is over, we hit the road back to Nashville. It’s a really quick trip, but insanely worthwhile. Why?
Because Japanese noise rock band Melt-Banana is playing a US headlining tour again after two years. This one is even more special, though. This one is to promote their upcoming 8th album, 3+5, their first studio album since 2013’s Fetch. Since their debut album, Speak Squeak Creak, came out in 1994, Melt-Banana has gone through a litany of lineup changes, but the two constant members are the two who took the stage in Atlanta: founding members Yasuko Onuki and Ichiro Agata. From the beginning of the night, this was special.
Opening band Tomato Flower took the stage first, and the experimental pop band from Baltimore was on it from the first countoff. Playing a set that consisted mainly of songs from their latest album, No, they breezed through all of their stylistic changes within songs – in any one song, you can find influences from shoegaze, math rock, psychedelia, and indie pop, among other styles – and it felt like a special moment to witness. When frontwoman Austyn Wohlers told the crowd that she grew up in Atlanta before landing in Baltimore with Tomato Flower, it all made sense. Tomato Flower put on a show for Wohlers’ homecoming, and we were grateful to be there to witness.
After Tomato Flower came babybaby_explores, the Providence-based art-rock/new wave trio consisting of “sam m-h (e. gtr.), lids b-day (effected vox & sampler), & gabe c-d (button rhythm).” Admittedly, reading their official bio refer to drum programming as “button rhythm” made me chuckle. Currently, my schedule has me working eleven days straight, so exhaustion can set in pretty easily, but when babybaby_explores were on stage, nothing outside of Terminal West mattered. Striking a perfect balance of intrigue, danceability, and odd (in the best way), they should be around for a while. Their most recent releases, “This Bonds To It,” “Nice Sometimes,” and “Hair” are worth checking out, and we can’t wait for our next opportunity to see them.
And then came the band of the hour. The headliner. The Japanese noise rock duo that’s been doing this for a little over 30 years (at the same high level every step of the way). Melt-Banana took the stage promptly at 9:00 PM, and time became even more of an illusion. Tearing through tracks from every step of their career, Yasuko O. and Agata never took their feet off the gas. Songs like “Blank Page of the Blind,” “The Hive,” and “Cracked Plaster Cast” got the pit opened instantaneously, and it never closed. A cover of DEVO’s “Uncontrollable Urge” made us grateful the venue isn’t in a second-floor space because that floor would have collapsed. After torching the room with “Infection Defective,” Melt-Banana went backstage for a quick breather before performing a rapid-fire eight-song encore, culminating in a performance of “Candy Gun,” the opening track from Fetch.
While some might think us insane for driving eight total hours for a show that only lasts three hours, with all due respect: you were not there. If you saw what we saw, you would know that taking the next ten days to drive out to San Francisco for their June 22nd show at Great American Music Hall would be warranted. The good news is there are still some shows remaining across the southern states before they reach that tour finale! Check out Melt-Banana’s remaining itinerary here. If there are any shows near you, you need to go. And then let us know what you think! 3+5 comes out on August 23rd, and we can’t wait to see what Melt-Banana has in store for us!
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