Melt-Banana performing at Empty Bottle in Chicago

[RH Photos] Melt-Banana Returns to Chicago

Photos by Geoff Henao

On Tuesday, July 14th, Japanese noise-core band Melt-Banana returned to Chicago's Empty Bottle for the first time in 15 years. Touring across the country with them is stoner metal band, and genre-defying Hot Nerds opened the show.

For months since the show was announced, my expectations were extremely high. 2015 marks the 10-year anniversary since my first Melt-Banana show at the Abbey Pub on May 5th, 2005. And considering Melt-Banana only comes to America every other year (their last show at the Double Door back in October 2013), I was ready for my bi-annual ritual. The Empty Bottle is also my favorite venue in the city, thanks to its dive bar aesthetic and acoustics that especially benefit loud, punk rock-esque bands like Melt-Banana.

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Prior to the show, I had never hear nor heard of Hot Nerds. Their eccentric style of hardcore vocals (modified through a vocoder), mixed with noise-core-influenced sampling played through a keyboard and mixer, and backed by metal drums accentuated with a double kick pedal. They were reminiscent of a young Melt-Banana and got the crowd hyped and energized.

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Unfortunately, all of the energy coursing throughout the venue was lost as Torche came on to play. My prior knowledge of the band came from Ruby Hornet's own Travis Marmon's praise of the band's style of slow-burning stoner metal. However, the drastically low tempo and lack of high energy severely lowered the audience's excitement. At one point, I had begun falling asleep... standing up and directly next to one of the stage's main monitors.

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Nearing midnight, Melt-Banana took to the stage, backed by an enormous wall of speakers intended to replicate the duo's loud volume of noise when they originally toured as a band. However, as singer Yako and guitarist Agata grow increasingly comfortable playing as a duo (with Yako controlling a drum machine and samples with a device), so too do their shows share similarities to years past. However, their live performances have changed to reflect their adapted style of power-pop/noise-core, shedding the more extreme hardcore elements that represented their earlier years. Despite some technical difficulties with one of Agata's guitar cables and a crowd that, surprisingly, wasn't as excited for the band that I've seen in years past. Nevertheless, the crowd eventually warmed up to them as their set drew to a close.

Check out my photos from the show below!

by Geoff Henao

[RH Interview] Islands

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Islands is the brainchild of Canadian-born lead singer/songwriter Nick Thorburn. The occasionally acoustic-inclined Thorburn, along with Evan Gordon, Geordie Gordon and Luc Laurent make up the squad that today is Islands. Started in 2004 in Montreal, the art-rock ensemble has had a sort of revolving door since founding member Jamie Thompson left in 2006, finding both critical and commercial success along the way with a crafty, uplifting sound that can take a left turn at a moments notice alongside a lively concert aesthetic that has seen Thorburn and company lead fans out the front door pied-piper style. Most recently, Islands released its fifth studio album, Ski Mask on September 17 through Manqué Music and announced a national tour that began the next day in Visalia, California. The tour comes through the Empty Bottle in Chicago October 14 before wrapping things up a week later with a set at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City. I recently had a chance to get in touch with Thorburn for a quick interview, check it out below.
Jake: Tell me about the new album, Ski Mask. How is it different, what's new?

Nick:The line up is the same as A Sleep & A Forgetting but the songs are all new! The direction is pretty different, too. A little harder, a little deeper, a little faster and a little darker.

Jake: How did Islands in it's current form come to be?

Nick: Evan and Geordie have a[n amazing] band called the Magic and I brought them out on tour with Islands on some of our Arm's Way tour in 2008. I was so impressed with their musicianship, I conscripted them for 2009's Vapours and they've stayed with me ever since. At this point, three albums deep, they're pretty damn invaluable. Luc drummed on the last two albums, but he's no longer playing with us. Our current drummer is Adam Halferty, who we met through a friend and he is all kinds of awesome.