Melt-Banana
Cell-Scape

(Survival guide for a defenseless young lady at the mercy of the 21st century)

Men? Damn them!

Do they think they have the world in their hands, huh? Are the attentions they show towards you directly proportional to the generosity Mother Nature had in giving you your physical features? Are you tired of mediocre clichés that plague the female figure in everyday life? In short, do you find yourself harassed by insistent and annoying individuals? You can tell me, I'm not bothersome, I assure you.

Hey Woman, I'm talking to you! You who find yourself under siege! Often a good slap doesn’t solve much.

"Uuuh, what a firecracker! She likes to play! She wants to provoke me! A Challenge? She’ll be mine!", will say the average Allupatus, not prone to surrender, in sight of a long-desired and ardently coveted reward. The urgent question becomes: what to do?

Simple. Melt Banana! In the basements of Tokyo, there are still some Pokémon roaming free - it seems they haven't caught them all. Characterized by indescribable sounds worthy of the best Iva Zanicchi with a cold. Give these charming pocket monsters the chance to torment some instruments, and you'll get exactly this album. To all those ugly macho men, let's show them who’s boss! Let's show them what it feels like to experience a significant hormonal upheaval every single month! Lipsticks of dynamite, mercury nail polishes, nylon thongs: armed revolt, baby.

All this mockery towards male virility for what purpose? For this purpose, eccheprò! Even the Locust couldn’t succeed like the Melt in being so challenging in their core proposal and, at the same time, terribly appealing. Because this little album here is a stunning adrenaline rush, bearing the marks of definitive artistic maturity. They constantly exceed the two-minute limit, unlike previous attempts, also giving meaning to what they do, which is no small feat if you know a bit about this band. The Melt have always been an originally volcanic source of ideas and creativity, but often lacking in coherence and chaotically spontaneous, for better or worse: now they pause to ponder what to do before launching into flights of fancy beyond their grasp, a fact that infinitely benefits this "Cell Scape", without diminishing the freshness of their sound. There is never a moment to catch your breath except on the concluding electronic ambient drift of "Outro for Cell-Scape"; the rest of the album travels at a frenetic pace with drums pounded as if there were no tomorrow. But the far stranger thing is that there are songs in here ("Shield for your Eyes, a Beast in the Well on Your Hand", "Lost Parts Stinging Me So Cold" the most captivating), unlike a past which was borderline questionable, to be kind. And, surprising surprise, in "If Is the Deep Sea, I Can See You There" Yasuko (this is the name of our Pokè-singer and group leader) uses her real voice in the chorus (meaning she sets aside her usual caricatured Pokètone), yet madness and irony are two fundamental elements of the Melt Banana spirit. In short, they finally manage to pull something truly interesting from the rumbling chaos of their creative star. It was about time.

Eliminate any doubt that I am fundamentally a fool and, for this reason, totally harmless and in good faith. Let's recap: before giving a slap, play the opening riff of "Chain-Shot To Have Some Fun" on your stereo system to scare off the ill-intentioned person of the moment, dear defenseless young ladies. It will save you a lot of trouble, I promise.