Mr. Bungle - California
I recently rediscovered this gem of an album by one of the more unique bands from the 90’s.
You may actually be asking yourself right now “You the bleep is Mr. Bungle?”; which is a fair question.
Mr. Bungle was the first band of former Faith No More frontman Mike Patton. When Patton landed the gig as lead singer for Faith No More, he remained in Mr. Bungle. He is actually wearing a Mr. Bungle t-shirt in the video for “Epic”.
Anyways, California was the third and final major label album from the band released on July 13, 1999; it was supposed to be released a month earlier (June, 8), but Warner Brothers didn’t want to tick off anyone off, meaning a guy named Anthony Kiedis, because the Red Hot Chili Peppers released Californication on the same day.
California is overall just a neat album, probably one of the more accessible Mike Patton involved albums, with probably the exception of Faith No More.
The album kicks off with seagulls and a beachy/loungy tune entitled “Sweet Charity”, one of my favorites on the album. It then launches into “None Of Them Know They Were Robots”, which is like a Brian Setzer on acid influenced song, which is what you would except from this band. From there the band tunes it down just a bit with the hypnotic “Retrovertigo” and the Beach Boys sounding “The Air-Conditioned Nightmare”, which also has some of that Mr. Bungle uniqueness, noises and all that.
From there the band leads us to “Ars Moriendi”, which is a pot luck special of music influenced from Eastern Europe, Surf Music and of course some good old guitar thrashing. It’s followed by my favorite track on California,“Pink Cigarette”, which returns to that loungy sound, and is a lovely song of heart-ache.
Then, Mr. Bungle returns to doing what they do best with “Golden II: The Bionic Vapour Boy”, a song filled with vocal effects, circus theme music and some 70’s funky bass. “Holy Filament” follows and is another one of those loungy and spacey tunes.
“Vanity Fair” could be a close second as my favorite song on the album. Awesome vocals by Patton, which is backed by lots of doo-whoop vocals, add some saxophone and you’ve got a killer track. The album closes with “Goodbye Sober Day”, which sounds like the theme music from a cartoon meeting the nightmares of a person who isn’t all there.
California may not be for everyone, but it’s defiantly worth checking out. Whether you like it or not, I’m sure it will be an album that you won’t forget.
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POSTED IN: Album Reviews
3 opinions for Mr. Bungle - California
Jennifer
Jan 24, 2008 at 10:45 am
I love Mr. Bungle - not so much as FNM but still, they had some pretty quirky stuff. I have to be in a mood to listen, plus of course Patton was not as involved it seemed and really he was a big allure of FNM. I actually knew about Mr. Bungle for a while before FNM but it took me a while (back in the day) to put two and two together.
Also, hope you’re well, I’ve been MIA working on some big stuff. But have more time now so I’ll hopefully be back to visiting. :)
acostill
Jan 24, 2008 at 5:11 pm
I was the reverse. I discovered Mr. Bungle through FNM.
I too have to be in the right mood to listen to them, because sometimes it’s bit much. Patton is one crazy dude.
I’m hangin’ in here. I hope your doing well too. Glad to see you back! : )
enma
May 10, 2008 at 12:52 pm
well youre right, this album is a real GEM, I recently discovered it ..this last year (december) this album is insane!! the live performances sound better than the album by far :D (I just got a few ones) its a shame they are not together anymore..and its kind of hard to find mr bungle fans around here, nice to see this review :D..
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