Saturday, June 18, 2005

Shameful while educational

I remember the concert like it was yesterday.

Keep in mind that I remember yesterday like it was several years ago.

Since highschool, when I first picked up the electric bass, I've considered myself a fan of the musician. Ergo, I'm a fan of Rush. Blues Traveler. Traffic. The Eagles. Mr. Bungle.

Mr. Bungle?



Mr. Bungle is the one band that I profess to love, but to which I seldomely listen. Let me give you a few reasons why:

Travolta -
With his mouth sewn shut he stll shakes his butt
'Cuz he's Hitler and Swayze and Trump and Travolta!

Squeese Me Macaroni -
I wana lock Betty Crocker in the Kitchen
And knock her upper during supper
Clutter up her butter gutter.

Stub a Dub -
Chase a tail that isn't there
It's time to wipe your butt
Sliding down butt hill

Love is a Fist -
I feel strongly about violence
Love is a fist

Dead Goon -
Too happy - a jerk beyond a smile
An axphixiophile
I'm the humper; stop hitting me
Walking the plank, swallowing dirt

So why do I sometimes listen to this band? It goes back to the concert that I mentioned earlier.

Mr. Bungle traverses seamlessly from metal to jazz to carnival music to drunken garage band to 50's quizshow tunes, and back again. They opened for Primus on New Years Eve at the newly named Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. And it was a show for the ages. Primus was awesome, as usual, but I specifically remember Mr. Bungle. I had just come back from a bathroom excursion and I distinctly saw Michael Patton pissing into his shoe and drinking it on stage. I'm telling you, it was magicalirific.

But most importantly, they were spot-on in their musical cues. With the exception of Traffic (read: Steve Windwood), I have never seen a band as tight as they were. They could accurately reproduce their sound even while live with 5000 moshing kids. You may have to hear them to understand what I'm talking about.

6 Comments:

At 6/18/2005 11:39:00 AM , Blogger Jason said...

You know, those guys sound a bit like Insane Clown Posse. (Who, incidently, get a bad rap because people think that they take themselves seriously. Thing is, they themselves acknowledge that the whole thing is first and foremost a comedy act.)
They have some real gem lyrics as well like:
"Fuck your mom, Fuck your mom's momma. Fuck the Beastie Boys and the Dali Llama"
I'mma go check me out some Mr. Bungle today and see how I likes 'em.

 
At 6/18/2005 06:42:00 PM , Blogger PSUMommy said...

Primus rocks. I haven't listened to them since early high school, but they still rock.

Hm...never heard of Mr. Bungle. I thought my friends had introduced me to every weird & wacky band out there.

 
At 6/18/2005 08:40:00 PM , Blogger THEMARSHAL said...

I love to hear bands that play concerts just like their CDs. To this day I say the band "Live" lives up to their name batter than any other band I have ever listened to. A close second place is held by Colective Soul. Sadly, the worst band I have seen in concert was Oasis, right before they broke up the first time. They were damn terrible, I mean the lead just stopped in one song and then every couple seconds the other members of the band stopped playing and something like 45 seconds into their 3 song of their set they walked off stage. Total shit, it was at Music Midtown in Atlanta..umm errr.....maybe 4 years ago or sumpfin.

 
At 6/19/2005 05:05:00 AM , Blogger PSUMommy said...

Because I don't know where else to post this- Happy Father's Day!

 
At 6/19/2005 09:57:00 AM , Blogger KOM said...

Jason - I don't know them personally, but I'm reasonably sure that they don't take themselves seriously at all. But damn good musicians.

Porter - I have Ween listed as one of my favorite bands in my profile. Lyrically, they might be somewhat similar, but they are apples and oranges musically.

PSUMommy - I went to a party with Les Claypool's sister one time. Might have to post that in the future... And thank you for the FD wishes!

Marshal - Amen. I've been to a lot of concerts by bands that were popular "before my time", so I don't mind hearing their music change. But if I hear a great sonic swell of a CD, then see 2 guys with a guitar and bongos, it can be dissapointing.

BTW - I'm not sure that I'm recommending Mr. Bungle. But if you're not easily offended, and can admire musicianship, even when presented as metal/funk/carnival/whatever, then yeah - check 'em out.

 
At 6/21/2005 09:14:00 PM , Blogger MelTheFruitFly said...

I'm so way behind... I wanted to comment the other day when I read this, but I'm so damn busy lately.

Anyway, Mr. Bungle is something of an acquired taste I think. I first heard them from some friends who were in the throes of Mike Patton worship, and being a bit of a Faith No More fan (I still love em) I was intrigued... and then frightened.

I'm still not sure exactly what I think of Mr. Bungle... and then there's John Zorn...

Definitely amusing, and I wish I'd seen them live at some point, but yeah, I'm not sure it's music to sit and listen to really.

 

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