Pitchfork

As the subway pulls into Shibuya on the Yamanote Line in Tokyo, nothing can prepare you for the sensory onslaught that awaits. Leaving the station via the Hachiko exit reveals a piercing overload of blinking neon, tennis court-sized media screens, and a relentless and chaotic surge of humanity through the streets that spiral dizzyingly off into the horizon. As a city gripped by paroxysms of furious activity, Tokyo seems to be a very reasonable home for the spasmodic, psychotic hardcore of Melt-Banana. And if you've spent a little time in the world's most baffling metropolis, this reissue of the equally startling tech-punk classic Scratch or Snitch should resonate with familiarity.

Melt-Banana are not the only purveyors of excess to emerge from Japan, but like spiritual brethren Boredoms and Ruins, their best releases stand as a testament to the power that a well-produced and inventive punk band can command with focus, technical prowess, and sick levels of ambition. Heavyweight Chicago auteurs Steve Albini and Jim O'Rourke recorded and mixed this 22-track, half-hour punk rocker back in 1995. The presence of two of the industry's most respected creative technicians infused this energetic four-piece with a shot of credibility that, in light of this band's musicianship, almost seems gratuitous. Evidently, nothing so drastic as a remastering was ever going to be needed for this repressing.

When forming Melt-Banana, Yasuko Onuki tore through ranks of personnel, finally settling with the guitar and bass duo of Agata and Rika, who provide electro-convulsive therapy to compliment Onuki's rapid-fire Japanese pop-culture musings. Her search paid off: The maelstrom that ensues here is never less than impeccably rendered-- one of the most coherent and illustrative recordings of the notoriously sloppy punk genre. "Rough Dogs Have Bumps" shows Melt-Banana in full control of an adrenaline-heavy hardcore frenzy that twists Heavy Metal guitar clichés into a delirious romp. Nonsensical as they predominately are, Onuki's frenetic utterances slice through the mix, setting the band on a jagged path fraught with hysteria and anger. Each instrument twitches fervently yet clearly in the expert mix that evokes Tokyo's busy streets: crammed with activity, yet immaculately litter-free.

Scratch or Stitch's track titles blare like the advertising slogans and brand name nonsense flashing on Osaka's electrical billboards. "DIG Out!", "DisPosable Weathercock" and "BuZZer #P" combine a parody of pop culture with a lively humor that sits well with the delirium of their contents. The 1\xBD-minute average track length echoes shortening attention spans precipitated by the quick-fire editing of youth culture TV, while Melt-Banana play with Japan's preoccupation with elaborate packaging and presentation by building layers of sound before ripping them to burning shreds as Onuki gleefully narrates their demise.

22 tracks might seem a bit ambitious, even for such an inventive and technically varied act, but then, hardcore punk is an ordeal at the best of times. The inclusion of the stunted 10- and 20-second "TYPe B for Me" and "A Finger to Hackle" (amongst other sub-minute explosions) does something to punctuate and shape the record, but tracks tend to bleed into one another, the quirky titles being all that separate the likes of "It's in the PillcaSe" and "Sick ZiP Everywhere". Thankfully, Melt-Banana do have a healthier than usual tendency toward riveting experimentation, judging by the torture chamber soundscape of "EYE-Q Trader" and the lycanthropic transformation from gentle to rabid in "Back to the WomB".

Scratch or Stitch sits among subsequent Melt-Banana releases with an air of superiority. Although influences and comparisons are not difficult to find, it's a mistake to bundle this album into any anonymous hardcore classification. What you're listening to may seem to be sensationalist and carnal, but that belies the album's wry center, steeped in cultural exposure. Hardcore? This release is Tokyo-core, and looking out across this sleepless behemoth of commerce, there's nothing accelerated or excessive about it.