Leap From Faith: Mike Patton strikes again with Mr. Bungle
by Dylan Gadino
From Rockpile Magazine, Philadelphia, PA

Ever since Mike Patton donned a Mr. bungle t-shirt in Faith No More's
breatkthrough video for "Epic," those who cared would come to learn the
colorful vocalist had kept himself busy with Mr. Bungle as a side
project while his "real" band was making appearances on Saturday NIght
Live and music award shows.  Since then, loyal cult followers of Patton
have been privy to the eclectic, spastic, sample-saturated and genuinely
disturbed sonic misadventures of Mr. Bungle.

There are a few changes this time around.  Most obviously, with the
breakup of Faith No More, Mr. Bungle has become the "real" deal.  This
means touring, publicity beyond photos of household appliances and album
tracks with strong resemblances to actual songs - at times even complete
with verses, choruses and beats inspiring both the snapping of fingers
and the tapping of feet.

"There's a lot of info, but it's organized in a way that's easy on
the ear," Pattons says about California, Warner Brothers' latest Mr.
Bungle release.  "It really wasn't a conscious decision."

Consciousness aside, when a band - especially one as diverse as this
San Francisco quintet - conceives an album every three years, the degree
of contrast from album to album rises to sizable proportions.

The band's 1991 self-titled debut fused metal, jazz and video games,
while 1995's Disco Volante sacrificed Patton's silky vocals for more
mock jazz and enough electronic noises to bring down a small jet.
California, although more song-oriented, by no means leaves off where
the band last stopped its totally recursive musical spook ride.

"Each record is like us saying who we are and what we're into, and
what music is to us," Patton says between sips of his freshly-brewed
coffee.  "These guys (Trey Spruance, Trevor Dunn, Bar, and Danny
Heifetz) are such great players, that for me, it's really fun to just
kind of sit back and say, 'Hmmm, what kind of fucked up shit can I write
for these guys?'  It's a real sense of freedom knowing that you have
that kind of power."

For ten years, Mr. Bungle has been a little more than mysterious
about everything it does -- the band has worn masks during performances
and photo shoots.  The boys have used album artwork to ignite and
baffled even the most dormant of minds.  Lyrically, Patton has
cryptically spanned topics from pornography to snot to suicide.

Ask Patton, and he'll say the mystery is unintentional.

"Speaking personally, I stopped wearing them (the masks) because I
couldn't play the fucking music.  Before it was a little bit more of,
say, a rock show where we just kind of play our songs and jump around,"
explains Patton.  "Performance became a little bit less of a priority
and music became more of one.  I don't know if that's good or bad.
Maybe it's not very fun to watch, but we'll have to think of something.
Otherwise, it's going to look like a bunch of guys hunched over their
fucking samplers."

Whatever Mr. Bungle does whip up for its audience this summer, one
can bet against Patton giving himself an enema on stage like he did in
San Francisco during a Faith No More show.

"After a while, it just became a circus act," he says about his
constant live digressions.  "The charm wears off."

Then there's the question of the lyrics. Are they worth explicating?

"Probably not," laughs Patton.

He goes on to explain the lyrics for "The Air-Conditioned Nightmare"
(the closest thing to a title track on California) are simply "a bunch
of words that sound really good together."

Despite the seemingly depthless frivolous lyrical component of Mr.
Bungle, one cannot ignore the precision of California's orchestration.
Add timpani, a mess of live strings, glockenspiels, and other exotic
percussion to the mix of sounds heard on prior Mr. Bungle albums, and
the result is California.  Tracks like "Ars Moriendi," "None of Them
Knew They Were Robots,"  and "Goodbye Sober Day" explore the realms of
techno-pop, jazz, and death metal all in one song -- occasionally all in
one measure.

"At times on this record, it doesn't even sound like our band is on
it, which I think is really fun," says Patton.