Artist · chart history
Melt Banana
Band Tokyo Japan Formed 1992 Japanese noise rock band
Melt Banana formed in 1992 in Tokyo, Japan. Melt Banana has 5 chart appearances on 4 radio countdowns from 2 stations on RockLists, spanning 1998–2024. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Shield For Your Eyes, A Beast In The Well On Your Hand”, which appears on 1 list with a best position of #12. The station that charted Melt Banana most often is John Peel (BBC Radio 1), with 3 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 2024.
Melt Banana have been blasting out of Tokyo since 1992, and Cell-Scape, their 2003 album, is as good a place as any to get your eardrums rearranged. They play noise rock and hardcore punk at a speed that seems physically unwise, then smuggle in electronic squiggles, experimental detours and, of all things, honest-to-goodness pop song shapes.
Yasuko Onuki is the voice, a yelp that ricochets off the walls like a pinball, and Agata is the mad scientist on guitar and effects, coaxing sounds out of that rig that seem to come from malfunctioning machinery. Rika held down the bass from the start until 2013, while the drum stool changed hands along the way.
"Shield For Your Eyes, A Beast In The Well On Your Hand" is the Cell-Scape highlight, a whirlwind that somehow stays catchy, but the earlier stuff hits just as hard: "Plot In A Pot" from Scratch or Stitch in 1995 and "Stimulus For Revolting Virus" from Charlie in 1998. They have put out ten albums in all and have carried their beautiful racket all over the world on tour.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Melt Banana on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shield For Your Eyes, A Beast In The Well On Your Hand | 1 | #12 | – | 2003 | |
| 2 | Puzzle | 1 | #223 | – | 2024 | |
| 3 | Scar | 1 | #275 | – | 2024 | |
| 4 | Stimulus For Revolting Virus | 1 | #37 | – | 1998 | |
| 5 | Plot In A Pot | 1 | #38 | – | 1999 |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Year-end chart timeline
Combined year-end countdown points per year. Taller bars mean more songs placing higher across more stations.
Every countdown appearance
| Year | # | Song | Countdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 223 | Puzzle | KALX 500 Most Played New Songs in 2024 |
| 2024 | 275 | Scar | KALX 500 Most Played New Songs in 2024 |
| 2003 | 12 | Shield For Your Eyes, A Beast In The Well On Your Hand | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 2003 |
| 1999 | 38 | Plot In A Pot | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1999 |
| 1998 | 37 | Stimulus For Revolting Virus | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1998 |
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