The last couple of years have seen an uptick in Melt-Banana sightings by way of live shows and remasters, and for us, we were just happy to have them back on the radar.
But then they hit us with the announcement of their first LP in seven years, and immediately, we started sweating. What could possibly be left for these titans to achieve? Well, shame on us for even thinking that – 3+5 sees the band fully tilted, leaning back into their punk roots while pushing their technical bleeps and bloops to an entirely different level.
No, really – songs like “Code” and “Case D” are pure aural crack, so don’t say we didn’t warn you – get hooked below with the latest single, “Stopgap.”
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Melt-Banana has always fueled a fiery tension between technical prowess and raw power, and at no point does this battle relent or show any signs of stopping for the new album. Even at its most melodic, it sounds like The Armed detonating C-4 in an arcade while orchestrating an army of blenders. In short, it’s absolute peak noise rock, and we are gleefully overstimulated.
Truly, words feel trite and meaningless in the face of what feels like the jaws of pure energy crashing through your headphones. When we were revisiting the bands classics like Scratch or Stitch and Cell-Scape, we had similar feelings, but it was a regard held in retrospect, like “isn’t it incredible that Melt-Banana put this stuff out in the 90’s?” But now, we know better – this is a band that can’t stop, won’t stop, and in our opinion, should never stop. Ever.
Check out more on their website here.
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