MR. BUNGLE

I thought that maybe the main composer Trey Spruance was just getting tired of making this crazy music after forming SECRET CHIEFS 3, 4 years prior to "California". I mean that project has more in common with the first two MR BUNGLE albums than "California" does. Hey Timb Harris guests on here. He will be an original member of ESTRADASPHERE who released their debut the next year in 2000. Plus he would start being on SECRET CHIEF 3 records starting with "Book M' from 2001. In typical MR BUNGLE fashion almost every song is all over the place. I'm just not into this at all.

"The Air-Conditioned Nightmare" has surf music, silliness and is all over the place. "Goodbye Sober Day" is the closer and again all over the place. Slow, fast, mellow, loud. Heavy and soft with silliness. "Ars Moriendi" is all over the place and has a middle eastern vibe. Elvis could have sung "Pink Cigarette". Music box sounds and silliness on "Golem II: The Bionic Vapour Boy", some darkness on "The Holy Filament" but again all over the place. Not into the blasting horns and uptempo sections on "None Of Them Knew They Were Robots".

So a low 3 stars but it may beat their debut that was just too far into extreme metal for my tastes and was very abrasive including the vocals. Not my music in either case but check out "Disco Volante", now that's an avant album I like.

This was released in 1995 a year that would prove to be pivotal in Trey Spruance's musical life. He would form SECRET CHIEFS 3, but it would also be his last album with FAITH NO MORE. Something had to give with his attention now on SECRET CHIEFS 3. Trevor Dunn the bass player here who would also play on a couple of SECRET CHIEFS 3 albums, went to the library doing some research for that 10 1/2 minute track "The Bends" when he stumbled upon the picture they would use for the cover art.

Yes, of the three MR BUNGLE albums this one is just right. A classic avant album if there ever was one.

I actually connect MR BUNGLE to the "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" story. You have the food that's too hot and the chair too hard. That's Pappa and that's this debut. The most extreme and metallic record they have made. Too hard. Their third album "California" is too soft and cold. Too accessible really. Yuck! But "Disco Volante", now that one is just right although I have a hard time saying that about any of the music this band has released. And this is a long one too at over 73 minutes. Of the ten tracks "My Ass Is On Fire" is my favourite. Again it doesn't sit in one style, so even this one isn't one I'm that into. But I really like the heaviness that comes and goes.

An explicit lyric label is on this recording for the many F-bombs, and this can be vulgar. As entertaining as this record would be in any year, 1991 seemed to be just right to hit the music world with something this insane. Their motto seemed to be, lets mix as many music styles as we can in each song. John Zorn produced this. And no this isn't even close to being a 4 star record. CAPTAIN BEEFHEART seems so innocent now after listening to MR BUNGLE who took "extreme" to another level.

Bungle of the deep end! This is the band's most eclectic and experimental output, blending elements of free jazz, musique concrete, and art rock. They dabble a bit with lofi on some tracks, like 'Everyone I Went To High School With Is Dead' and 'Merry Go Bye Bye'. It truly is an amazing album, that evokes many emotions: discomfort, euphoria, fun, sadness, and more. Truly absurd, but all the same heartwarming and enjoyable. I strongly encourage anyone to explore the mighty world of the Bungle. Their eclectic nature allows anyone to at least enjoy one track. Although preferably see about their whole discography. Prog on!

Hands-down masterpiece! An eclectic mix of anything from death metal to ska to prog. Surprisingly enough, I prefer the ska influence on this album to anything else. Songs like 'Egg' and 'Stubb (A-Dub)' really sell the pure genius of this record. Avant, wacky, and everything in between. For a first studio album, the production and lyrics really are great, and Mr. Bungle is not afraid in the slightest to let their freak flags fly. This album isn't for everyone, but it certainly is worth the listen. And after all, an egg comes out of a chicken, and a chick comes out of an egg. Mr. Bungle would grow to do even better things in their future. Listen to those records too!

Five stars five stars five stars five stars five stars! I had no idea that tis band was on Prog Archives! I've been listening to Mr. Bungle for a while, and never knew this. I feel angry at myself. Anyways, this album is perfect, as their entire discography is. This is the definitive compilation of their absurdity, musicianship, and vocal work. Everything falls right into place here. It's all wonderful. I can't talk about specific tracks or write an articulate review because I love this album so much! I can't really spoil anything, so just listen to it! It's amazing.

It's surprisingly very accessible, and I recommend it to everyone who enjoys avant-garde. This isn't a very unpopular opinion, this record is incredibly important to the avant-garde scene. It's five stars for me, definitely essential.

When i discover an all time favorite band planning a release some 20 years after they officially called it quits i always have to slap my head with a sigh thinking DON'T DO IT! I want my favorite bands who have gone down as legends to remain pure and pristine as far as quality material goes and MR BUNGLE with its three eccentric screwball concoctions released in the 90s proved to be some of the most original musical expressions ever laid down in the recording studio.

But then again during that reign in the underground MR BUNGLE was always about throwing curve balls and 21 years after the release of their last album "California," the boyz from Eureka, California have done it again! Unfortunately we don't get an album that incorporates every musical genre ever created gleefully mixed together in the most defiant and unorthodox manners.

Instead we get a re-recording of the band's very first demo released in 1986 titled THE RAGING WRATH OF THE EASTER BUNNY only this 2020 version adds a few tracks and for some reason jettisons the track "Evil Satan." Oh, and this one also officially adds the word DEMO to the title.

MR BUNGLE has always pretty much been the magic triumvirate mojo of vocalist Mike Patton, guitarist Trey Spruance and bassist Trevor Dunn with other members recruited for whatever sounds were required for the job.

Unlike BUNGLE's avant-garde display of a musical encyclopedia, EASTER BUNNY goes back to the band's earliest years as a crossover thrash band with a bit of death metal and hardcore punk mixed into the overall metal therefore you can forgot about Arabic musical scales, funk, ska, doowop, surf rock, Indonesia monkey chants or any of the gazillion musical ideas mined for the three album procession.

This is a metal album from beginning to end. Along for the ride this time are Scott Ian from Anthrax as the rhythm guitarist and Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo making this DEMO release sound like a very professional sounding album but i wonder why original BUNGLE drummer Jed Watts who appeared on the original EASTER BUNNY DEMO wasn't asked to rekindle the early years in this reunion moment.

After finally hearing this updated DEMO turned slickly produced album in the year 2020, what are we to think? Are we happy to have the BUNGLERs in a bonafide reunion of sorts or are we pissed that all that amazing talent is wasted on a somewhat average but excellently performed thrash metal album?

Well the answer to that is somewhere in between. Given the MR BUNGLE canon of the 90s the band never really had the chance to be, well, just a metal band as these guys were always trying to cram one more musical idea into the mix until it morphed into a gargantuan chimera that evolved into something completely different.

On this EASTER BUNNY update (ironically released in time for Halloween!), the boyz from Eureka just get to take off their magic backpacks filled with every musical flavor this side of the sun and simply crank out some seriously manic, raw, noisy, aggressive and HEAVY metal music albums.

This updated DEMO features all of the original eight tracks of the 1985 demo only for some mysterious reason "Evil Satan" was nixed. The new release has four new tracks including "Glutton For Punishment," "Mathematics," "Eracist" and "Loss For Words," as well as the track ""Hypocrites / Habla Español O Muere" which includes the original track and cleverly incorporates Ian Scott's irreverent crossover thrash band's material from Stormtroopers of Death.

Yeah, there are definitely some BUNGLE-isms tucked into the mix but for the most part THE RAGING WRATH OF THE EASTER BUNNY DEMO is a rampaging and galloping thrash metal album displaying Patton's vocal antics and allows Spruance to actually throw out some lead guitar here and there.

To be honest this wasn't i wanted in a new MR BUNGLE album. In fact i wasn't even wanting a new album after all this time. While this little gimmick is an excellently performed aggressive assault on the sense made all the more palatable by the drumming prowess of Lombardo and the inclusion of Scott Ian, what we all really want is whatever was supposed to emerge after "California!"

Hopefully this is simply a little side note that is getting the band back into shape after a long absence from the scene but now that you have gotten this out of your system, guys, PLEASE do not feel the need to re-record the other three demos as well! We want 90s MR BUNGLE with all that genre bending insanity!

Despite it all though i have to admit that this is an excellent slice of hardcore thrash metal that delivers the required aggressiveness for that classic thrash attack but at an hour's playing time it perhaps could've been trimmed down just a wee bit. Whatever! MR BUNGLE is back! Yeah 2020 truly is the weirdest year ever and this only adds to the surreality.

1. "Quote Unquote" (6:56) opens with recording of a dude snoring! Then, after 30 seconds, we are blasted into wakedness by a wave of rock instrumentations. The song settles into a cabaret noir/carnival-esque motif over which singer Mike Patton sings in a crazed, pitch-bending voice halfway between Joe Jackson and Andy Partridge. Genius! The addition of background vocalist Robert Bornum's deep baritone is perfect--leading to a punch-in-the-face chorus--is perfect! Quite the complement! Several other motifs--each very disparate from the carnivalesque one--enter and exit, quickly, giving this an even more feel as if I'm walking through a horror-fun house. What a journey! Like the Cardiacs with a sense of humor! I love it! In the end, the dreamer, I think, is finally awakened. (15/15) 2. "Slowly Growing Deaf" (6:59) slow floating synth wash chords over which singer is singing in a crooner GINO VANELLI-type voice--for the first minute. Then the band breaks into another rock cabaret-like motif and the voice changes theatrically to match. Talk about Multiple personalities--and personality! I don't think I've encountered this kind of adventurous spirit since discovering LES NEGRESSES VERTES (in 1989) and HUMBLE GRUMBLE (2011). Round and round the band and singer take us on a merry-go-round of moods and emotions. Wow! Punctuated by a finish in which a man runs to a sink and proceeds to throw up for over 30 seconds while a radio voice eggs him on! (14/15)

3. "Squeeze Me Macaroni" (5:38) bass, percussion, fast rhythm guitar support this PRIMUS-like fast-spewed hyper-theatric vocal performance. (Now I can see where black midi's Greep gets some of his vocal stylings.) Making the mundanities of life seem so ludicrous and celebrating it full force! What a performer! What a band! Not quite sure what the song is about, though it feels as if I'm witness to an unchaperoned high school or college party. (9.5/10)

4. "Carousel" (5:13) Trey Spruance's Django-like rhythm guitar opens the song play a few rounds through a fast moving chord sequence before the rest of the band bursts in to launch into a loosely tense pyschedelic thriller. Again, HUMBLE GRUMBLE comes to mind--though later heavy and surf-music riffs again make this music so challenging to--and the psychedelia side of things reminds me of several of the KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD albums. (8.75/10)

5. "Egg" (10:38) sounds like a band taking David Byrne's early Talking Heads sound several steps further--using virtuoso musicians and composers to do so--plus, let me not forget to extoll the incredible production here: amazing clarity to all/every instrument. There are even Adrian Belew- and Worrell-like flourishes here and there--as well as the LES NEGRESSE VERTES-like craziness. Amazing stuff! Amazing theater and entertainment! And to think that six-plus guys are all on board with this, able to stay on the same page with each other. Astonishing! Even the tech metal/prog metal worlds have little to offer to compare/compete with this! Even with the three minutes of train ride banter among the band members at the end, this is so well produced and performed that I find it hard to find fault with any of this! Were it not for the existence of Seal's "Crazy" (and all of its many versions), this would be my favorite song from 1991. So much fun! (20/20)

6. "Stubb" (7:19) more carnival music to open this, even moving into a gentle waltz with gentle choral vocals before deteriorating into a "family" gypsy fest. This is just inexplicably crazy music! How does one even envision this kind of music (except by having been exposed to a lot of Jewish, Eastern European, or traditional celebration music or klezmer, Some of the bands from my limited experience that come to mind when hearing this stuff include FARMERS MARKET, HUMBLE GRUMBLE, ESTRADASPHERE, MAJOR PARKINSON, Frank Zappa, The Beach Boys, and the Cardiacs. I feel as if I'm listening to a peak into the terrifying moments of being a boy lost in Coney Island. A little unsettling! (14/15)

7. "My Ass Is on Fire" (7:47) opens with what feels and sounds like a funked up excursion by some heavy metal dudes. But then, at the one-minute mark, the vocalist enters amid a fairly quiet, empty space, to sing in a fairly "normal," pleasant manner. But, Fake! It's all a diversionary ruse as the music turns quickly back to some very eclectically integrated and synthesized heavy music. The self-talk in the fourth minute is hilarious--a parody take on Robert DeNiro's Travis talk in the mirror during Taxi Driver. I'm still not sure what caused the singer's ass to catch fire--or even if it's a digestive track reaction to super-spicey food (I don't think so)--but I have to admit it's far more interesting and entertaining--and far less infantile-feeling than most of Frank Zappa's potty humor (though that seventh minute of cacophony is a bit over the top). And then the Mr. Bungle political compaign add at the end! Will this band's sophisticated imagination and ballsy courage never stop? (13.25/15)

8. "The Girls of Porn" (6:42) a song about exactly what the title says--and the accompanying exercises in self-gratification that often go along with such exposure. Very graphic and confessional. Great funked up music. Incredibly entertaining if one can get past the self-conscious embarrassment of the explicit details. (9/10)

9. "Love Is a Fist" (6:01) opens with a metallic KING CRIMSON sound and feel but then quickly turns klezmer and classic heavy metal and avant garde (those sax solos!) Crazy craziness over fairly "tame" metal foundation and chords (though it all feels contrived to be very much a lampoon of the "real" stuff). (8.75/10)

10. "Dead Goon" (10:02) Despite some amazing bass and rhythm guitar play, the first two minutes of this HUMBLE GRUMBLE-like song offer very little to engage or excite me. The Swedish Chef mumble-jumble words serve to express the title's protagonist very well, but then the lyrics become clear, English--is this a dialogue? More gypsy/klezmer like rhythms over the awesome fretless bass play of the awesome Trevor Dunn (Of late from JOHN ZORN and SECRET CHIEFS 3). The more sedate, cemetery-like seventh and eighth minutes lose me a little--though it could be great fodder for a B-Movie horror flick. (17/20)

Total Time: 73:15

Excuse me if words fail me: I have just had my macaroni squeezed!

A/five stars; a minor masterpiece of truly progressive (though also eclectic) rock music--an album that should be in the possession of every self-proclaimed lover of progressive rock music.

1. "Sweet Charity" (5:05) theatric in an almost cabaret way, but flush with catchy and smiley melodic and quirky hooks. Great song--very memorable in a 1960s kind of way. (10/10)

2. "None of Them Knew They Were Robots" (6:03) amazingly entertaining! Even without hearing the lyrics (I can't help but catch a few of the shocking non-sequiturs), I just love this song! (10/10)

3. "Retrovertigo" (4:59) acoustic guitar and Fender Rhodes piano set the stage for a slow song. Singers join in on multiple levels, the lead being mostly a whispery high male--until, at least, the chorus--then, at 1:44, one of the background singers steps forward to deliver in a full tenor. The music stays slow and simple, almost nursery/lullaby-like, until 3:17 when a big wall of sound comes crashing in, with power chords, amped drums, choral vocals, and everything. (8.75/10)

4. "The Air-Conditioned Nightmare" (3:55) Straight out of a BEACH BOYS/ELVIS beach movie soundtrack. What fun! Is it parody or serious? Very interesting and clever vocal delivery with different vocalists injecting each word of the lyrics in places. Then, at 2:07, it moves to a saloon of the Wild West before returning to the beaches of SoCal. (8.75/10)

5. "Ars Moriendi" (4:10) Arabian melodic riffs with Middle Eastern/European instrumentation opens this one before letting everything go fast-paced crazy (in a very organic Arabian way). Pure craziness abounds! (8.75/10)

6. "Pink Cigarette" (4:55) parodying the early rock'n'roll themes and styles popularized by a California-caucasion element of the 1950s and early 60s. Clever but not really amounting to much for me. (8.25/10)

7. "Golem II: The Bionic Vapour Boy" (3:34) could be from the soundtrack of a Hitchcock or Peter Sellers or Danny Elfman movie. Interesting, entertaining, very quirky and off-the-wall, and, perhaps, quite ingenius. Take David Byrne's quirk and multiple it tenfold. (8.5/10)

8. "The Holy Filament" (4:04) dark and dramatic, the soundscape of the opening is incredible! The big deep bass chords off-set by upper octave piano notes is used to awesome effect! Then strings enter in the second half followed by male vocal choir. So cool! (9/10)

9. "Vanity Fair" (2:58) sounds like something from Peter Cetera/CHICAGO from the mid-70s. (8/10)

10. "Goodbye Sober Day" (4:29) Fully representational of the title, this was probably a lot of fun for the band to create, but it does little for me, other than slightly entertain. (8/10)

Total Time: 44:08

Perhaps this is where bands like HUMBLE GRUMBLE, PINK MARTINI, and PINK LEMONADES got some of their inspiration.

B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of highly theatric musical entertainment.