Melt-Banana plays Crowbar in Ybor City, Florida on Nov. 9, 2011. Credit: Photo by Nicole Kibert/elawgrrl.com
It’s been years and years since you could buy a physical copy of Melt-Banana’s 1996 album Scratch Or Stitch, and while the band has always come around to play, fans can finally grab the record on CD thanks to a recent reissue.

And we’re sure it’ll be on the merch table when Melt-Banana plays Orpheum in Tampa on Saturday, Oct. 29.

The Tokyo-born punk duo—which criss-crosses the line between grindcore, tech-punk and noise—is no stranger to the Bay area, but this is the first time Yako’s high-pitched vocal and wild guitar from Agata get to shred at the new Orpheum.

Another duo, Baltimore’s Ed Schrader’s Music Beat, opens. 

This article appears in Oct 27 – Nov 2, 2022.

Read his 2016 intro letter and disclosures from 2022 and 2021. Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief...