The Patton Parade
Okay, so we have a band that has just signed to Warner Bros, and are about to drop their debut album. They've been around for a few years, released several demos, and developed a cult following in Northern California. Now let's see how this turns out.
Mr. Bungle - Mr. Bungle
Alright, I'm going to just come right out and say it, this is a masterpiece of an album. The album was produced by John Zorn himself, and features a much more polished band than the one that appeared on their previous records. However, as it is definitely more of a compilation of their previous work than a full-fledged album, it doesn't perfectly serve its purpose. There are several fan-favorite songs that appeared on the demos that failed to make an appearance on the debut. I won't go into too much detail, but I will say it's a bit disappointing.
That out of the way, this is certainly some of their best work so far. Of the ten tracks on the album, 6 have already appeared on their demos, and they are all beautifully put together on this album. The band's funk metal sound is now mixed up with some sampling and brass noodling in between tracks, probably the result of Zorn's influence on the album.
The first track on the album is "Quote Unquote", previously titled "Travolta". The reason for the name change is actually a law suit from John Travolta himself. The song is a carnival-inspired, dark track which devolves into noise towards the end. Next, "Slowly Growing Deaf" is the first track previously featured on one of their demos. Heavily inspired by their metallic sound, but sporadically breaking for much softer sections, this one is a bit uninspired, and generally ends up unsuccessful. The song ends with another break, this time featuring the sound of a man ****ting. The next song, "Squeeze Me Macaroni" is undoubtedly one of the best songs on the album. The prominent section of the song is fast and hectic, while a secondary, slower section picks up the slack. The transitions are natural and not forced in the slightest. The song ends with a repetitive and excitable refrain of the prominent section.
The next song, "Carousel", was the earliest track to be featured on this album, demonstrating its endurance as a powerful and catchy tune. "Egg", the next song, is also older, and also features a catchy main tune. However, this one digresses into incredibly slow and experimental territory as well, so it can be a bit off-putting at times. "Stubb (A Dub)" is one of the most experimental, and yet also very cohesive tracks on the album. It tells the tale of a family dog, simple as that. It's probably the most all over the place track on the album, but it also has a very strange allure to it.
Another very heavy track, "My Ass is On Fire" is like their early death metal sound, with less growling and more horns. The main part of "The Girls of Porn", on the other hand, almost sounds like a Mario Kart track. Definitely the funkiest song on the album, and the least metal, it's a delight to the ear. "Love Is a Fist" is only rightfully a couple minutes long, but digresses to an extreme degree towards the end (probably also due to Zorn). "Dead Goon" feels like a track they decided to tack on at the end, being never before seen and honestly just not as good as the other tracks. The amalgamation of 20s music at the end is quite excellent though. And the album finishes on a positive note at least (again, probably Zorn).
It's definitely not perfect, but for what it has to work with, the album does a pretty good job. The band is at their absolute prime, and Zorn's production is quite alright, but the songwriting just isn't there all of the time. So, because the majority of the tracks have the good songwriting, I will say this is a definite listen for fans.
Patton-O-Meter says:
