Melt-Banana Lite

Don't let the name Melt-Banana Lite fool you. Even if they tried to interpret Ella Fitzgerald standards or the latest ditty by Richard Marx, it would still be wrecked. The forever-touring Japanese noise-rock band, which last posted up in the Phoenix area in December 2007, will bring a slightly modified sound to town. The M-B Lite incarnation subtracts the abrasive guitars from the effed-up drum passages and Yasuko Onuki's piercing vocal work but adds samplers and synths that will certainly be just as seizure-inducing. But the new instrumentation may not even be the biggest concern. As is usually the case for Melt-Banana buffs, the drummer determines how crazy-awesome the set will be, and the 17-year-old band doesn't have an official stickman in its lineup. (At press time, the man behind the kit remained undetermined.)