Footage from Capsule’s 2008 Melt Banana show

Melt-Banana are a noise rock duo (vocalist Yako & guitarist Agarto) hailing from Tokyo, Japan. The twosome are well known for playing extremely fast grindcore and noise music mixed with experimental, electronica and pop-based song structures.

We’ve traced some rather shaky footage captured by a member of the audience from the last time Capsule put on Melt Banana… all the way back in 2008! Were you there? If so, here’s a chance to reminisce ahead of seeing them play again this May 27th at Rainbow Warehouse. Tickets here.

They will be supported once again by Glatze, who also played the 2008 show… so it’s a right little reunion for all involved! Sam Underwood, the man behind Glatze had this to say: “I can’t wait to dust Glatze off for another outing alongside Melt Banana; for old times’ sake”We also warmly welcome Thrilling Headgear to the bill. Thrilling Headgear features past/present members of Opium Lord & Stinky Wizzleteat. They take influence from Bad Brains, Melvins, Cavity, Floor, ZZ top and much more. But the “the page we’re all on is groove”, says guitarist Neil Bailey

Tickets for Melt Banana + Glatze + Thrilling Headgear can be bought here.

Melt Banana – Facebook page

Thrilling Headgear  – Facebook page

Glatze – Website

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Melt Banana go Kraftwerk

Earlier this month we posted Melt Banana‘s cover of Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You‘. Listen to that here.

Melt Banana seem to like the occasional cover (who doesn’t?) and we’ve found Banana-fied versions of songs from Devo, The Damned, The Beach Boys and even Bing Crosby with, you guessed it, White Christmas. But up for your delectation now is their spectacular version of Kraftwerk’s ‘Showroom Dummies‘ off the Krautrockers’ Trans-Europe Express album, see track below.

Get your tickets now to see the weird and wonderfully original Melt Banana. Tickets here! Melt Banana play Digbeth’s Rainbow Warehouse on May 27th with support from…

Glatze  – Glatze is all about attention grabbing, energetic live performances so draws influences from the likes of Henry Rollins, Afrirampo, rave DJs such as Sy and Slipmatt, and of course Melt Banana! Glatze is Sam Underwood‘s alter ego.

Thrilling Headgear – Thrilling Headgear is all about libidinous acts of creation, getting hyped off of hype stoked off of stoke. Features current/ex- members of Stinky Wizzleteat and Opium Lord.

 

Buy Advance Tickets, cheaper than on the door! That’s extra pennies to spend on merch!

 

Melt Banana Official

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Melt Banana cover ‘We Will Rock You’

Listen to MELT BANANA‘s quirky cover of Queen’s classic anthem ‘We Will Rock You‘. It starts off fairly normal, but things get distinctively more Melt Banana-like as the track progresses…

Japanoise at it’s best, don’t miss a rare opportunity to see Melt Banana play this May 27th at the Rainbow Warehouse in Digbeth.

“One of the primary misunderstandings that people who do not listen to extreme metal or punk frequently articulate is that extreme music must be angry and negative. ….  One of the coolest things about Melt-Banana is that the mirth, whimsy, and elation in their music is almost unmistakable, even to people who cannot wrap their minds around extreme music.”  – Benjamin Hedge Olson, PopMatters

Advance tickets are available now from here & will cost you less than on the door on the night. Support comes from THRILLING HEADGEAR and Sam Underwood’s ‘nutjob’ solo project GLATZE.

For more information about all of these acts and to sample tracks read our preview.

Tickets here

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Melt Banana + Glatze + Thrilling Headgear – live preview

John Peel described the Melt Banana live experience as “Simply one of the most extraordinary performances I have ever seen and ever heard … just mesmerizing, absolutely astonishing.”

Expect impossible to memorize lyrics, relentless tempos and one of a kind prog-core. Melt Banana are Tokyo’s twisted take on punk rock. Now a duo comprising Agata on guitar and singer Yako (who signature staccato vocal style makes the band the unique monster it is), Melt Banana will be bring their wildly fun, frenzied and unpredictable show to Birmingham this May 27th at the Rainbow Warehouse. Advance tickets here.

Joining them will be Brum’s Glatze and Thrilling Headgear.

Glatze “is all about attention grabbing, energetic live performances” says the man behind it all, Sam Underwood. Drawing influence from the likes of Henry Rollins, Afrirampo, rave DJs such as Sy and Slipmatt, and of course Melt Banana, expect madcap inventions and theatricalities with a fun-at-all-costs mentality!

Meanwhile Thrilling Headgear are set to rock out with their Spock out, compelling us to think about what we listen to and why. As guitarist Neil Bailey states “… music to me is story-telling. Influence is nothing without critical function. You have to think about why you like what you like.”  We honestly have no idea how this story will unfold, we just know it’s going to be rad… with Ex/current members of Stinky Wizzleteat/Mothertrucker/Opium Lord how could it not be.

For  more information about all 3 acts, sample tracks and Q&A’s go here, here & here! Our events page on Facebook can also be found here. See you at the show! Buy your ticket now, here.

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Melt Banana – reviews & quotes

In just over a month Capsule welcomes back one of our favourite acts, the one and only Melt Banana who play Rainbow Warehouse on May 27th (Tickets here). Hailing from Tokyo, these Japanese noise-punk pioneers have been enthralling audiences worldwide with their own brand of ecstatic, pop-grindin’ rock. After a six year hiatus (partly due to the dreadful earthquake that hit Japan in 2011) the band are back touring with their latest album offering, Fetch. They’ve been missed and not just by us. It seems there are quite a few people with nice things to say…

“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…. that far outshines ninety-nine percent of most other bands out there. The band once described their live show as “Shooting machine gun and laser beam, chaos in order”. And I think that pretty much sums them up.” – Olli Siebelt, BBC

“MELT-BANANA are in a league of their own. There are other extreme hardcore bands out there who are experimental and unique but MELT-BANANA are more than that. They are giants amongst infants. Masters amongst pupils. Kings amongst serfs. Nobody can do what they do and nobody can adequately use words to describe them.”  -Jeb, Crass Menagerie

“That Melt-Banana is making some of the best music of their career—over 20 years into the band’s existence—speaks to the universal and transcendent quality of their noise. The landscape of media, society, and even the microcosm of noise rock has changed greatly, but Onuki and Agata have locked jaws on the diametric constants: energy versus agitation, phobia versus euphoria, and instant nostalgia versus the relentless pursuit of the upgrade.” -Jason Heller, Pitchfork.

If all that hasn’t managed to convince you to see Melt Banana for yourself, then it’s worth also noting that the legendary John Peel went as far as to describe them as “one of the world’s great bands”.

Also playing this night are local acts Glatze (Sam Underwood‘s alter ego) and Thrilling Headgear (formed from the ashes of Stinky Wizzleteat). Listen to tracks and find out more about these two artists in two recently conducted mini Q&As for Capsule:

Glatze Q&A

Thrilling Headgear Q&A

Tickets for Melt Banana + Glatze + Thrilling Headgear at the Rainbow Warehouse May 27th can be purchased here.

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April playlist

Capsule’s April playlist is now ready for you to enjoy and features artists performing in our fast approaching upcoming shows. Here’s a round-up of what we’ve got coming up prior to our calender biggie, Supersonic Festival. Scroll down for our playlist.

April 18th, Hare & Hounds (1 ticket gains you entry to watch 7 bands across 2 stages):

THE EX plus supports Health & Efficiency and Rattle (Stage 1). Stage 2 curated by Milque + Muhle features Ghold, Mob Rules, Sump and Bayonnebleeder. The Ex may have started as a punk band but their numerous collaborations and sonic explorations over a 30+ year career has seen them experiment with the exotic and unexpected, making their hefty musical back catalogue now difficult to confine to any one genre.

May 27th, Rainbow Warehouse:

Melt Banana plus supports Glatze and Thrilling Headgear. Melt Banana are a well respected Japanese noise rock band championed by the likes of John Peel who was an avid fan. The band incorporate elements of punk and psycho-pop into their fast and furious performances.

Tickets for both these events can be purchased at advance pricing here.

 

Liked that? For more tunes listen to our previous playlist. Tickets to either of these shows go here.

Image: Caffaknitted, Flikr

 

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Meet Glatze…

The stars have aligned once again to bring back a pairing we last saw together in 2009. Yes that’s right folks, GLATZE return to support the one and only MELT BANANA this May 27th at the Rainbow Warehouse, in what can only be described as sweet, sweet déjà vu. Back then this was the first time Sam Underwood (the musical man/loon behind Glatze) had performed at a Capsule event. Since then Sam’s been involved with numerous other Capsule events through his other projects which include Ore, MortonUnderwood &

also If Wet which will be brought along to Supersonic Festival this May.

We caught up with Sam to talk about his upcoming performance with Glatze. See our mini Q & A below. Tickets for this event can be purchased here.

5 years on, what’s it like knowing you’ll be back sharing the stage at a Capsule gig with Melt Banana all over again?

It means a lot to me. I have warm memories of my first encounter as an artist with Capsule and I have been a Melt Banana fan for many moons. Capsule have continued to support me since that day and I can’t wait to dust Glatze off for another outing alongside Melt Banana; for old times’ sake.

Sam, you’re a busy man…you build instruments (MortonUnderwood), play in Ore and also run your own monthly event, If Wet, which will be transported to Supersonic Festival later this May. How do you balance all of these different projects and where does Glatze fit in?

Off the back of my sabbatical I had all these amazing strands I could pursue. For a while I did just that; I just kept throwing them against the wall to see what stuck. That’s hard work though, as I was essentially saying YES to everything. Now I have a clearer idea of what aspects really appeal to me I have started saying NO to some stuff, in order to concentrate my efforts. This makes my life easier and my output more focussed. Glatze is quite distinct in all this, he just lurks on the side-lines waiting for fun opportunities to

play. He’s my light relief.

Image courtesy of Pete Ashton: Taken in 2009 during Glatze’s last performance alongside Melt Banana.

Who are some of your musical (or otherwise) influences?

Glatze is all about attention grabbing, energetic live performances so draws influences from the likes of Henry Rollins, Afrirampo, rave DJs such as Sy and Slipmatt, and of course Melt Banana!

How do you go about writing a song? Do you jam and figure stuff out that way or is the writing process much more structured?

As Glatze, my music always has half an eye on what the live aspects of it will be. It mainly starts with studio production, although tunes range from fully improvised pieces that are constructed entirely live to heavily produced dancefloor vibes with me just twatting about over the top!

What can people expect from Glatze live?

Glatze is older and wiser now so expect more madcap inventions and theatricalities than ever before, and the usual fun-at-all-costs mentality!

For tickets to see MELT BANANA plus GLATZE and THRILLING HEADGEAR go here.

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March playlist

March’s playlist brings together tracks from some of the artists performing at Capsule’s upcoming events this Spring.

On April 18th Capsule partners up with purveyors of fine records and good buddies MILQUE & MUHLE to curate an evening of musical activity held across two stages at Hare & Hounds. Topping the main stage are Dutch punk rock legends, THE EX, who are supported by percussion heavy RATTLE & rock experimentalists HEALTH & EFFICIENCY.

The second stage programmed by M+M takes things on a doomier route with GHOLD tipping their hat to the godfathers of sludge whilst continuing to forge their own unique sound. Hardcore will also be well represented on the bill with MOB RULES and BAYONNEBLEEDER both promising to punish ears and minds. Lastly SUMP will deliver their own hybrid of black metal and punk.

Tickets for THE EX on April 18th are available now & grant access to both stages making this one all-nighter you don’t want to miss out on. Buy tickets HERE.

Later on May 27th we welcome back Japan’s unequivocal answer to grindcore-noise rock, MELT BANANA, who are

touring in support of their latest album Fetch. Support comes from sound artist and instrument maker Sam Underwood who returns with GLATZE, his solo outlet for his broader musical endeavours. The line-up is completed with local sonic deviants THRILLING HEADGEAR, born out of the ashes of Stinky Wizzleteat and ready to pummel with their bleeted, transcendent take on punk-rock. Tickets for MELT BANANA can be purchased HERE.

 

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