Melt-Banana – 3 5 Vinyl LP Record

Presenting 3 5, the long-awaited eighth album from Tokyo-based noise-rockers Melt-Banana on their own A-Zap label!

The album showcases the duo’s visionary musical approach and extraordinary abilities as performers: Yasuko Onuki’s giddy, hyperactive vocalizing and Ichiro Agata’s glitchy, cyberpunk guitar, delivered at dizzying speed, bathed in aggressive electronic sounds. Their aesthetic approach is exultantly experimental, fusing diverse genres imbued with chaotic energy. As on their previous works, the music on 3 5 is unpredictable, always filled with surprises and excitement.

3 5 synthesizes elements of a variety of extreme musics, hyper-pop, classic punk, vintage metal, and noise. It partakes of Japanese culture overall, especially the subcultures of gaming, anime and underground music.

Melt-Banana seek to offer possibilities to musicians who won’t start a band if they can’t find a drummer, young women afraid to express themselves in their own unfiltered and unique voices, bedroom musicians and egg punks seeking to blend electronic noise with live instrumentation. 3 5 provides a fresh experience and perhaps inspiration for all.

While Melt-Banana hasn’t explicitly explained the meaning behind the album’s title, 3 5, prime numbers symbolize mathematical integrity and independence, which could represent the band’s uniqueness and freedom. Why “3 5” and not “1 7”? One is left to ponder.

“A band who have justifiably been championed across the world, Tokyo’s Melt-Banana have been responsible for some of the most complex punk rock ever made...”

—Olli Siebelt, BBC