California was Mr. Bungle’s third and final album, which is fitting because the moment before the death rattle escapes should ride the same emotional and sonic roller-coaster if it is going to come anywhere close to being satisfying. I came to find out about Mr. Bungle and Mike Patton, not by the typical Faith No More route, but rather through Irony is a Dead Scene, which is a astoundingly unique EP by The Dillinger Escape plan that features Patton on vocals.
Mr. Bungle seemingly uses California as a way to wag their genitals in the faces of those that insist that being tied to a genre is a productive way to make music more approachable. The album hovers somewhere on the edge of a chasm that features a nightmarish acid trip through the seedier parts of your brain on one side and a vintage island cocktail party on the other.
“Sweet Charity” is the opening song and brings to mind a the type of Hawaiian doo-wopesque Folk music that you would expect to find at an Eyes Wide Shut inspired luau, which, when coupled with the subtle Latin influences, reveals the type of genre-bending tunes that make the album unique. “The Air-Conditioned Nightmare” is the type of hazy, dark, surf rock that The Beach Boys may have been able to pull off if they had been taken as POWs, forced to eat Al Jardine, and subsequently had to replace him with a more entertaining guitarist after being released. The song that brought me through the intimidating orgy of styles and moods that make up California was “Golem II: The Bionic Vapour Boy,” which borrows its rhythmic eccentricities from latin jazz and funk, but flirts with the idea of becoming electronica. There could not have been a more fitting plug in the California tub than “Goodbye Sober Day,” which goes from being the blissfully ignorant child of fuzzy rock and latin pop, to the jaded bastard son of Sufi chants and thrash metal, and then back again.
California is not a casual listen. Wear a white shirt and, even if you are female, complete the ensemble with a black silk skinny tie and a black blazer. Make yourself an islandy rum-based cocktail and take a business man’s trip through the natural dusk light in your living room.
mydailywax 