southern records

No wave gone gonzo. Guitars that sound like ray-guns and very unique piercing rapid fire female vocals. DNA leaves the galaxy...

overview/ what's up:

"Melt-Banana are the latest band to jump aboard our happy-go-lucky label. Melt-Banana came over to Chicago from Japan with K.K. Null to record their debut CD at Steve's house back in. The CD entitled "Speak Squeak Creak" was released not by Skin Graft, but by Charnel Music/ Nux Organization (same labels as Space Streakings debut CD). Their album is great and you should all go out and pick it up now.

Melt-Banana is made up of two ladies, Yasuko (vocals) and Rika (bass); and two fellas, Agata (guitar) and Sudoh (drums).

The band's first US show was at Lounge Ax here in Chicago opening for K.K. Null and Jim O'Rourke. The went over so well, that Sue at Lounge Ax asked 'em to play again a few nights later. This time with Jim O'Rourke and David Grubbs (Gastr del Sol) improvising with Agata and Sudoh, before the Melt-Banana set. Just as when Space Streakings and Zeni Geva were here, we had a great time with our Japanese buddies. I was especially fortunate this time because I got to spend a lot of time with Melt-Banana after the recording of their CD (Yona-Kit recorded right after them, so they had five days before Null would be ready to fly with them to San Francisco), so I got to take the Banana's all over Chicago, the highlight probably being our trip to "Uncle Fun", a cool store filled with junky toys and novelties. Each band member dropped a load of cash there and came home with a bag full of goodies. Yasuka bought a keen rubber iguana (because she has always wanted a pet iguana!) and I, in a move that would make John Forbes proud introduced Sudah to the wonderful world of cigarette loads, which we surprised Agata with later that day!

On the last day Null and Melt-Banana were in Chicago, Jim O'Rourke and I took them to the Museum of Science and industry to see the "sliced man" that Steve had been telling them about. For the uninformed, the "sliced man" is a dead guy who has been sliced into wafer thin sections both horizontally and vertically, with the sections sandwiched between two pieces of glass and put on display (hey, the last song on the Yona-Kit album is called "Slice Of the Life" guess where the name came from?)

On their final night in town, which just so happened to be my birthday, we all hung out at Steve's and drank A LOT. Null told me about all of the delicious things I'm going to get to eat in Japan, when I head over there with The Killmen and Jim O'Rourke. Apparently I'll be treated to such delights as a womb of pig, intestines, blood cocktails, and all kinds of great stuff. My stomach and I can hardly wait! Of course, saying good-bye was a total drag, but at least it's with the understanding that we'll all be seeing each other soon."

-Mark Fischer, Skin Graft Records.