California - Mr. Bungle

...grunge if I’m honest, but California (fronted by Mike Patton/Faith No More) was a refreshing new sound, unlike anything I’d ever heard before. Be prepared to give your ears a brand new listening experience, if you’ve never tried Mr Bungle before, you could be very pleasantly surprised! On the other hand, you may just wanna head for the hills right now! The whole album is a mixture of abstract and absurd that actually works! Expect ...
...Boys’, Wurlitzer, grasshoppers in mass frenzy (!?), and tribal chanting. Sounds weird huh? Yep it is, but dig deeper, there are some masterfully crafted sounds going on here…

To the tracks themselves then…..

Sweet Charity

This relatively mellow track (by Bungle standards at least, expect complete mayhem later!!) opens with the sound of Hawaiian steel guitars against a background of screaming ... more

That Mark (Yhwman) has a lot to answer for! For weeks now we’ve been chatting on MSN, for weeks he’s been on and on at me to listen to Mr. Bungle, a group I’ve never heard of! And now, he’s demanding not only do I download all the songs on their ‘California’ Album, but that I write my opinion on them too. Sigh…..OK Mark, you win!

This album was a complete surprise to me. Me? I’m still firmly wedged in the 80s with the likes of Wham (there Angus, I finally admitted it in public!), Adam Ant, Duran Duran etc. Why on earth would I be wanting to review something as funky and happening as Bungle, me an old woman in her mid thirties! I was expecting pure grunge if I’m honest, but California (fronted by Mike Patton/Faith No More) was a refreshing new sound, unlike anything I’d ever heard before. Be prepared to give your ears a brand new listening experience, if you’ve never tried Mr Bungle before, you could be very pleasantly surprised! On the other hand, you may just wanna head for the hills right now! The whole album is a mixture of abstract and absurd that actually works! Expect a blend of mellow jazz, rock, electronic, ska, 60s ‘Beach Boys’, Wurlitzer, grasshoppers in mass frenzy (!?), and tribal chanting. Sounds weird huh? Yep it is, but dig deeper, there are some masterfully crafted sounds going on here…

To the tracks themselves then…..

Sweet Charity

This relatively mellow track (by Bungle standards at least, expect complete mayhem later!!) opens with the sound of Hawaiian steel guitars against a background of screaming seagulls and gently breaking waves. Don’t be fooled as you sit back and allow the gentle sounds and Patton crooning to wash over you, within seconds the chorus livens up the whole song with a ‘bop bop be doo’ feel and some gentle but refreshing Hawaiian guitar melodies that will have your toes tapping in no time. By far the smoothest and one of the most melodic ballad type tracks on the album, superbly arranged and a blend of LA lounge style with powerful contrasts.

None of Them Knew They Were Robots

A crazy track this one, that starts out with frenzied guitar thrashing combined with strings and then pans into 60s style combined with swing as Mike does his amazingly versatile vocal stuff. It has to be said, this is one very talented, if strange, vocalist! It has a good strong bass throughout which will have your toes tapping, punctuated every so often with more guitar thrashing. Overall a lively track, with distorted thrashing and insanity, but I loved the 'swing' elements in particular. Interesting Mark…are you sure this is the sort of stuff a happening stoooodent dude should be listening to??

Retrovertigo

Woooo, a beautiful gentle acoustic guitar intro to this track, very easy listening, and what could be the start to any serious love ballad. Mellow yet intense, finishing with a dramatic climax in true Bungle fashion. This is certainly the closest track to typical pop that you will find on the album, and you’ll be humming along in no time.

Ars Moriendi

Hmmm, this one is interesting. Imagine an Indian/Arabic style intro combined with an imaginative and totally unique manic metal sound all of it’s own, with constant changes in tempo and a mix of thrashing guitars, strings, metal and wild vocals! That sums up the first four bars at least, hehehe. Am finding this almost impossible to describe, experimental is not the word! So I made hubby sit and listen to it and asked him to sum up in words for me. His response….’It’s bollocks!’…hmmmmmmm. Always said he was the wordy sort!

Not quite the sort of song you can sing along to, and try dancing to this one and you could end up in Casualty faster than you can say ‘I’ve been Bungled’!! With its ever changing pace and style, it’s a complete riot! I even thought I detected a hint of Zorba the Greek in there somewhere! Highly recommended for anybody who wants something a little ‘different’. Oh, and Patton ‘does Italian’ on this track!

Pink Cigarette

This has to be my least favourite track on the album without a doubt. Melancholy, too sentimental for words and depressing were my first thoughts, despite the upbeat intro before we hear about doom and more doom. The lyrics hardly inspire either, a countdown to the ultimate suicide ending with ‘There's just 5 hours left until you find me dead, There's just 4 hours left until you find me dead, There's just 3 hours left until you find me dead, There's just 2 hours left until you find me dead, There's 1 more hour and then you will find me dead, There's just’.....................and then, the more persistent beep of the heart monitor before it finally flat lines altogether. This track is just awful, dreary as hell and the most depressing thing I’ve ever heard! Come back Spice Girls, all is forgiven! Just too too sad :O(

Golem II: The Bionic Vapour Boy

Without a doubt, the weirdest track on the album. Great opening with it’s wind up music box mixed with what sounds like computer generated organ and vocals. It actually sounds like something you might play to your six year old, but best not as poor little love just might have nightmares!! Mark tells me that Golem is a character from Jewish legend, constructed of clay and made to act out tasks for humans. Until he blows a gasket or something and starts attacking his creators! Er, the golem that is, not Mark! Although…..anyway, I digress……

Golem II : the self-perfecting
Lie-rejecting
Human mind correcting

Totem of the living
Self-organized, wrought from the clay
Our king by night, our slave by the day

Giga-giga-gilgamesh

What do you know?
Watch the human life show
OK let's go

O my double
He can pop your bubble
That means trouble

Hmmm, scary stuff huh? But an interesting and varied sound and the atmosphere builds as you continue to listen, and I just can’t help but titter at the ‘Giga-giga-gilgamesh’ line! Think robotics, disco funk and electronic effects and you get the idea, kinda……

Holy Filament

Nice track this one, has a bit of everything including some beautiful harmonised lyrics (does that even make sense?) and we even get to hear some haunting piano on this one. Very gentle but with a good supply of atmosphere and melodrama. Tis nice on the ears this one, can lie back shut your eyes and let the whole thing wash over you completely. The lyrics are short and can be summed up entirely as follows:

In fiber optic illusion
The flickering eyes
By flourescent lights
Supplicate before machines,
Self-reflecting

The legend of modernity:
The phosphenes explode
God's eternal strobe
Through the holy filament,
Graven image

Tis rather beautiful really…sigh…….and the pianist is simply superb!

Vanity Fair

Another very busy track, which ambles along merrily and offers a whole plethora of sounds for you to enjoy. Expect a bouncy doo-wop feel throughout and an occasional eerie carnival style organ that makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck! You’ll get snatches of guitar and moody sax and Patton shows again the versatility of his vocal talents. I like this one, I like it lots in fact. It’s finger snapping good (listen to this track and you’ll see what I mean!)

Goodbye Sober Day

This is my ultimate favourite and Mark knows why. If I’m down, moody, irritable or just having the worst blonde day, Mark just has to remind me to ‘chak chak chakachakachakachaka’ and I’m soon back in the swing of things! :O)

It starts with what I can only describe as the sound of grasshoppers in frenzied orgy (!!) followed by Hawaiian style vocals and sound and is the most Bungled Bungle track on the CD. Hard core guitars throughout that lead to the ultimate chorus, a crescendo of….monastic chanting!! I defy you not to join in and believe me; those cobwebs are soon dispensed with! By far the strangest and most varied track on the album, it leaps from one riff to another with constantly changing pace and style so that your head will spin. This is one you simply HAVE to listen to!

So there you have it, the blonde’s guide to Bungle…and Mark, I shall never ever forgive you for setting me this challenge! It’s the sort of album that cannot possibly be described in words, you really do have to sit and listen and expect almost anything. Experimental, yet traditional, funky yet classic, it’s all in there somewhere! Oh and Mark, looking forward to your Spice Girls review…fair is fair after all! Me? I’m sticking to loo cleaners!
 

...less