Broadcast 19: Oisicle Melonpan

This month’s recommendation is a 3-piece indie band that is the perfect mix of indie and summer vibes. Every Japanese indie band seems to have that one music video that takes place in front of the ocean, but Oisicle Melonpan dials it up a notch and takes the theme on with full confidence, threading the theme throughout most of their discography. As summer comes to an end, I hope you are able to hold onto some of those sunny feelings for just a little longer as I recommend some songs and music videos from Oisicle Melonpan.

Years Active: 2015 – Present (2022)

Core Members: Nakashima ナカシマ (vocals and guitar), Minegishi Shousetsu 峯岸翔雪 (bass), Hara Shuntaro 原駿太郎 (drums)

Point of Origin: Tokyo

Who is Oisicle Melonpan?

Oisicle Melonpan おいしくるメロンパン (Delicious Melon Bread) was formed in 2015 in Tokyo by Minegishi Shousetsu (on bass), who invited his college classmate, Hara Shuntaro (on drums), and former high school classmate, Nakashima (on guitar and vocals), to create a band together. Their streamlined 3-person makeup really allows each person to shine through to create an unmistakable and unapologetic indie rock sound with some math rock inspired elements thrown in—which is especially great if you’re like me and love a strong bass presence in your music!

By 2016, Oisicle Melonpan entered the indie scene in full force by playing at the ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL 2016 (the biggest rock festival in Japan in terms of attendance), and winning RO69JACK 2016. They’re signed to RO JAPAN RECORDS, which as far as I can tell is related to Rockin’On Japan, the company that puts on the ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL every year in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki. Since the inception of the band in 2015, they’ve released 6 mini-albums, each consisting of 5 songs with overall run times under 25 minutes long. Although there isn’t a lot more information about the band online in English, Oisicle Melonpan seems to have a unique identity as a band and I will be watching their evolution in the future.

Sugar surf

My first music recommendation from the band is “Sugar surf” (シュガーサーフ) from Oisicle Melonpan’s first mini-album from 2016, thirsty. As per Japanese indie rock band tradition, this music video takes place at the ocean, and features an overall light-blue tone, matching Nakashima’s iconic blue Fender guitar. Nakashima has a bright and soft vocal style that reminds me at times of Ozaki Yuuki 尾崎雄貴 from Galileo Galilei and of Taniguchi Maguro 谷口鮪 from Kana-Boon. Nakashima also seems to write all of the lyrics to their music (with writing credits on all of their songs on Spotify), and as far as I can tell, features the ocean prominently in their overall discography. “Sugar surf” is short but sweet, and in my opinion is a great introduction to the band, so enjoy!

phantom ship

This next track is my favorite song from Oisicle Melonpan called “phantom ship” (架空船) from their 2021 mini-album, theory. This is one of their longer songs at 5 minutes and 21 seconds, capturing a more melancholic and dreamy feeling than my first recommendation, and that’s exactly what gives it more replay value for me personally. I especially love the bass in this song, and I can’t help but love the spoken-word style interlude around 3:25 that I’ve similarly pointed out in my tricot and WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA articles. This instance of the style includes Nakashima “reading” from the book that was burned earlier in the video, which just gives a nice visual to the sound.

This music video has all the makings of a great indie video—performing in an abandoned building, something is set on fire in some sort of symbolic gesture, and of course, the ocean is saliently featured as well. I don’t usually listen to music for the lyrics, but the music video and the feeling this song portrays makes me wish that more people knew about Oisicle Melonpan so that the English translations were up online somewhere.

look at the sea

This last more upbeat song is aptly called, “look at the sea” which is from their 2017 mini-album, indoor. This music video has a nice blue and yellow color palette and takes place mostly at some sort of industrial site next to the sea, and also has a woman and cat doing various things throughout the video. It’s generally a fun video to watch, and it seems like the band is enjoying themselves, with Minegishi bringing a lot of energy while playing his bass. This catchy tune will leave you signing, “look at the sea…look at the sky…look at the moon…” all the way until the end of summer. I know I will be!