mr bungle broke up :(

Well, "California" did make a fine swan song, though. But damn, I was wondering when all those guys could get the fucking time for all their music, be it Bungle, side projects, etc.

Secret Chiefs 3 is putting out like 3 albums this year.

http://www.underdog-online.com/index.php/article/articleview/55/1/8/

cod < mr. bungle

(also salmon < mr bungle, and trout < mr bungle)

I've since seen 'em one more time for their "California" tour, and that was grand.

...though Patton has been more prolific than ever in recent years, he hasn’t released any singles or videos since Faith No More’s demise. He adds, “Videos cost money. We would rather use that money to make more records or pay bands big fat royalty checks or get hookers and steaks.”

Their first album is MONSTROUSLY AWESOME.

Yup yup yup.

"Egg."

that's a good record. but the nasal patton vocals still strike me as odd to this day. i actually think they work really well on 'the real thing'.

The Real Thing was awesome, especially the title track and Underwater Love.

The Mr. Bungle debut actually scared me so badly during my first listen - during Stubb (a Dub) that I took it out of my cassette deck and hid it in my closet for a year.

when i saw faith no more live, 'surprise you're dead' was the highlight. the crowd went nuts

Disco Volante is MONSTROUSLY AWESOME.

It's one of those Trout Mask things where after you listen to it about 15 times it goes from "huh?" to "best shit ever."

I would never listen to a song by this band because of their name.

It's one of those Trout Mask things where after you listen to it about 15 times it goes from "huh?" to "best shit ever."

^^^ very true, only 15 should really be 2

I was allowing for people who are slow to catch on to keep trying.

I would never listen to a song by this band because of their name.

Um, explain?

I mean it's not like they're called Rockists Who Shit On Your Faggy Dance Music.

He buys records for the sleeves.

kind of closed minded there, chuell chowser.

Yeah, they even have a song called "Desert Search For Techno Allah"!

All but the truth - forget
And from this union cup
We will drink wine tonight

Qiyamat qiyamat a tawil'
Qiyamat qiyamat insan al kamel

Haqiqat itself is drunk
So drinks the Hidden Imam

Pride of the peacock angel
Under the feather veils

Dark tresses under the black light

The name just sounds like something I don't want to hear. Like, people who would identify themselves as Mr. Bungle are probably on a very different wavelength.

yah i dont think you'd enjoy any of their work tbh. you might enjoy some of trey's (the guitarist) bollywood influenced house music he's made through the years.

The band's name was taken from a children's educational film devised to teach children good manners and hygiene, which was featured in a Pee Wee Herman HBO special in the early '80s. A puppet named Mr. Bungle was the main character, used to represent the kind of person no clean, polite child would wish to be.

Used to be one of my favorite groups. I rarely listen to it anymore, but when I do it's usually a handful of songs from California.

xpost: I was about to say what marmot said. Considering how obscene their lyrics were for the time, I found it a clever and appropriate name.

To wit:

xpost

LALA
LALALALA

sorry

BLAHBLAH
BLAHBLAHBLAH BLAHBLAH

"Stubb (A Dub)" is one of the greatest things ever recorded.

oh fuck I DREAMT ABOUT DISCO VOLANTE LAST NIGHT, i dreamt that i was living in a computer game based upon the album. it was one of the coolest dreams i've ever had.

tonight i shall listen to the album again.

I disagree with the up-thread assessment of Patton's "nasally" voice. I still think we have yet to hear another, more talented voice as daringly or creatively used (to say nothing of his brilliant/absurdist lyrics, esp. on Mr. Bungle) - in rock, anyway.

Although I can see where someone might get put-off by the band name, once you're acquainted with its "cinematic" source (sampled extensively on the first LP) - you might also find, as said above, Mr. Bungle is a very clever and appropriate name: http://www.archive.org/details/lunchroom_manners

"Phil had good manners. He didn't want to be like Mr. Bungle..."

for some reason i see mike patton as the jack black of music. insufferably smug, MB fans are generally the worst people on earth

Yeah, we pour oil down storm drains, tap on the glass at the aquarium, and when we go out for sushi, we don't pay.

jack black is the jack black of music, foo'

disco volante on repeat. awesome. closing section of 'desert search for techno allah' absolutely resplendent. 'ma meeshka mow skwoz' beyond incredible. etc.

'desert search for techno allah' is seriously great.

it also somehow manages to perfectly convey the mind-melting music in just five words! i mean, does it not just sound EXACTLY like the title?

def. I always kinda wished the secret chiefs made a whole album like 'desert search', since lots of tracks from that project seem to be working off of a similar template. the sc3 d&b tracks were especially disappointing since they already felt pretty dated 10yrs back when trey dropped 'em. not that I don't love sc3! but that tabla outro on 'techno allah' - yeah, it's something special.

I would never listen to a song by this band because of their name.

-- Spencer Chow, Friday, 13 July 2007 20:22 (5 months ago) Bookmark Link

Um, explain?

-- Ned Raggett, Friday, 13 July 2007 20:25 (5 months ago) Bookmark Link

I mean it's not like they're called Rockists Who Shit On Your Faggy Dance Music.

-- Ned Raggett, Friday, 13 July 2007 20:25 (5 months ago) Bookmark Link

zing of '07?

zing of the century

I only searched 'mr bungle' because I wanted to see what people made of California. Then I discovered the above and realised that there really was nothing more to say. :D

this is really sad to me :(

-- chaki (chaki), Thursday, May 22, 2003 2:28 PM (4 years ago) Bookmark Link

its realy sad he was a guitarist

That's hardly Ned's best zinger.

I’ve never listened to Mr. Bungle because of their terrible name.

congratulations. tell us more.

hey i'm playing w/willie winant next week, who's on disco volante and california!

(and all true mr bungle fans will be sure to isolate "i'm playing w/willie winant" into perpetuity)

congratulations. tell us more.

I also find their fans to be annoying.

haha I never saw them in concert, I think I was lying so Ned would talk to me

I haven't listened to California in FOREVER. It is still my favorite album; I can hear it all in my head if I try. REEEETROVERTIGOOOOOOOOOOOOO...

I'll never forget riding the bus in high school, listening to their first album, this douchebag guy who wanted to but in on everybody's shit was all "what are you listening to" and I let him listen and he was like "what is this clown funk bullshit?!" and THREW my headphones back at me.

I still have trouble believing it was the same band responsible for the Betty Crocker fuck song that would go on to record something as gorgeous and epic as "Sweet Charity" or "Goodbye Sober Day".

i just listened to 'california' all the way through :D still not sure if it's better than DV though. gotta decide for that POLL

its not.

That's hardly Ned's best zinger.

I was gonna say...

Bungle ruled....

I didn't get DV the first time but grew to appreciate it over time

"Clown funk bullshit" made me laugh.

It's like... almost an hour later, I've been to the record store and the supermarket... and "clown funk bullshit" is still making me laugh. Way to make my day, nickalicious.

I think I was lying so Ned would talk to me

story of my life on ILM ^^^

"Clown funk bullshit" is probably the best description of Mr. Bungle possible given the limitations of the English language.

My favorite band when I was 13/14. That lasted 'til I was about 18. I got into a real Mike Patton kick. Then I just stopped listening and haven't been able to even deal with the idea of his personality/voice.

I was reading Mark Prindle's site last night, though, and ended up DLing the early tapes (OU818, Bowel of Chiley). The embarrassing thing is that I was singing along to "Squeeze Me Macaroni" in no time.

is the story of the Bungles/Melvins show in Anaheim in 1992 anywhere on ILM? It's probably the best story of a concert ever that I happened to attend.

Details?

Don't know if I'm allowed to say, but Ned interviewed Buzzo and Dale very recently for a piece, and Ned asked about that show, and Buzzo's synopsis kinda sums it up. However, I don't want to give away something that might yet to be published.

rosebud is a sled, let's have it.

http://www.pattonmad.com/Mr%20Bungle/MrBungleBootlegTradingList.htm

lol, the Anaheim 1992 show is available. I'm very very tempted.

Looks like the story disappeared from ILM.

Anyway, Mr. Bungle are touring for their first album. They have a show lined up at the Celebrity Theater in Anaheim CA (in O.C.) It's their ONLY SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SHOW (at the time), so tons of people come to see Bungle at a place that normally books Kenny G., Loretta Lynn, etc. (I think the place is now a House Of Blues.) Anyway, it's 1992. Despite the fucking canon, FUNKMETAL is alive and well, despite the peaks of Sub Pop, Boner, Amrep, etc. being alive and well too. Bungle are touring with this band Grotus, but Melvins are touring too, and Bungle being big Melvins fans invite them to be openers for this show. (This is a Joe Preston era show fwiw.)

I missed Grotus when I arrived, but it seemed the crowd was just sitting there waiting for their "clown funk bullshit" (phrase still major lolz). Melvins go on. It seems like only 17 people in the audience out of hundreds knew who Melvins where. I went with two friends who were one of those 17. Ned and his friend Jason were another two. (I would meet Ned for the first time months later. And then the rest is history <3 <3 <3 and all that.)

Anyway, Melvins are fucking great. They do stuff from Lysol, Bullhead, Ozma, Eggnog, etc. pretty much the peaks of those albums. the entire fucking audience boos the Melvins loudly because, you know, they're really dour and slow and not clown funk bullshit. As the boos get louder, Melvins become slower. At the end of the set, an onslaught of garbage goes in the direction of the Melvins leaving the stage. Dale comes back to the back and says "Mr. Bungle says fuck you" just to piss off the audience even more.

Anyway, apparently from backstage, Patton saw the booing and got really riled up. Buzzo reports that Mike took the Bungle set list, took a marker, and wrote in big letters on it "TONIGHT THEY WILL PAY".

OK, the Bungle set.

The band begin standing still doing a Melvins type track for at least 10 minutes. Patton under mask sits there waving his microphone doing nothing the entire 10+ minutes.

Basically the band did every amazing thing possible that was NOT on their one and only album. They did pretty much all their working versions of Disco Volante songs, in addition to an Alan Parsons Project cover, and a really early Negativland cover from the first album that has a really unsettling stereo pan of a preacher. The band stood still as some backing tape played this stereo fuckery in the background. Basically, it was the most amazing fuck you show I've ever seen.

The audience is trying to get into it, but their patience is heavily tried, becoming more ornery as an hour passes, and this spectacle of a set continues to go in all directions but the one the audience actually wants.

Only toward the end did they actually introduce a song from the first album, "Travolta", which is greeted with HUGE applause, like an communal unlocked constipation and being unwaterboarded. "FINALLY". So they do that, and another -- "Ass On Fire". During one of the songs, Patton initiates a total fratboy call and response thing.

Mike: "OK REPEAT AFTER ME... I LOVE BEER!"
Audience: "I LOVE BEER!"
Mike: "MICH-E-LOB"
Audience: "MICH-E-LOB"
(this goes on a little bit)
Mike: "I.. LOVE.. THE MELVINS! :-D"
Audience: "I LOVE THE, the, ur, Mel..."
Mike: "HAW HAWHAWHAWHAWHAWHAWHAWHAWHAWHAWHAWHAWHAWHAW!"

..song finishes, ends. Bungle retreats.

At this point, the audience has only begun to be riled up! I mean, they did two songs from the album! They're going to finish up the rest in the encore, surely. Right? Right?

They come out to do their encore. They don't do an album song. Audience is kinda wondering what the fuck. Then, excepting much of the band, the band suddenly stops playing except the drummer. The drummer notices that everyone else stopped, so he stops. The band turn around and all look at the drummer. The drummer, even though he was wearing a mask, had the most desperate "HOLY SHIT" look on his face. The band start screeching "HAPPEEE BIIIIRRRRFDAAAAAAY TO YOU". At that point, the drummer gets the fuck off his drumset and starts running for his fucking life. The rest of the band quickly catch up, proceed the beat the living shit out of him, the big curtains close, end of encore. Thanks for coming kthxbye.

Except for the 17 extremely blown away fans aforementioned, hundreds of fans of clown funk bullshit were supremely bummed that night.

Ned blogged a detailed play-by-play of this also:
http://nedraggett.wordpress.com/2008/05/10/a-little-story-about-the-melvins-mr-bungle-and-me/

Amazing.

And yes that show bootleg is well worth it.

I’ve never listened to Mr. Bungle because of their terrible name Mike Patton is overrated.

I won't defend Mike Patton, but overlooking Mr. Bungle because of him is overlooking something entirely differejt.

i'm just kidding, i've heard the bungle records. still not a fan though.

I would never listen to a song by this band because of their name.

-- Spencer Chow, Friday, July 13, 2007 9:22 PM (11 months ago) Bookmark Link

^^^^total douchebag thing to say,

Eh, I felt the same way about Death Cab For Cutie.

The best thing about DCFC is their name, because it is a (Sir) Viv Stanshall quote.

hey, at least DCFC isn't as bad as Cute Is What We Aim For.

listening to the first album, having a blast

ok we're about two minutes into 'egg' and i wanna take a garden spade to a large wooden table in bacchanal celebration

anusdei9 (3 weeks ago) -4 Reply | Spam
u think this shite is difficult music?ceck out atrox or madder mortem or dream theater if u want to hear something original loser.

tru2daflu (2 weeks ago) 0 Reply | Spam
did i say it was difficult. i said different. madder mortem to me sounds like cradle of filth with a female vocalist. dream theater sounds like a shitty hair band version of H.I.M. the thing about music is it is all opinion you can't make it fact that what you listen to is better than what others listen to. i will agree with you about atrox though they are very good.

anusdei9 (2 weeks ago) -2 Reply | Spam
hahahaha madder mortem sounds like cradle of filth?and dream theater like h.i.m.?yes it's definitive.you are deaf.get your ears checked.

tru2daflu (2 weeks ago) -1 Reply | Spam
i said hair band version of H.I.M. my ears are fine but thank you for your concern.

anusdei9 (2 weeks ago) 0 Reply | Spam
if someone says that dream theater sounds like any version of h.i.m. and madder mortem sounds like cradle of filth..well that person's ears are certainly nor ok.actually i admire you.deafness must be horror.my respect seriously!

signupaccountforme (1 week ago) +1 Reply | Spam
Mike Patton does get a whole lot of recognition because he makes a whole lot of "real" music. I don't know if you've heard of a little band called Faith No More, but they were one of the most influential bands of the nineties. Now he's in so many other bands like Fantomas, Tomahawk, Peeping Tom, and heaps more. They are all completely different, insanely creative and "real".
Just because Dream Theater play fast, does not mean they are good - they're hideously bad.

utuber351 (2 weeks ago) 0 Reply | Spam
Dream theater is great i must agree

mageskillquick (2 weeks ago) +3 Reply | Spam
lol!! dream theater fucking suck dude, no where near as good as bungle.

nonserviamreviews (1 week ago) +4 Reply | Spam
depends on how you look at it. Dream Theater are extremely talented and could play circles around Mr Bungle. On the other hand, Mr Bungle are MUCH more creative and in my opinion they are better song writers. I'd sure rather listen to Mr Bungle, but I don't think they could play what Dream Theater plays to save their lives.

TheCollector18 (1 week ago) +3 Reply | Spam
DT's members aren't half the musicians the members of Mr Bungle are. Yes, I hate DT but i'm trying to not let that influence my opinion. Yes, DT's member are very 'technically' talented but Mr Bungle's members are absolutely amazing

nonserviamreviews (1 week ago) +1 Reply | Spam
but saying "absolutely amazing" is COMPLETELY subjective. Fact is, each band has their strengths, Bungle's is in creativity and DT's is in technicality. Neither one is better than the other, it is all up to opinion. Personally, I have a good amount of respect for every member of DT, save for the super generic singer, but I would much rather listen to Bungle any day of the week (I am at the moment in fact).

tru2daflu (5 days ago) 0 Reply | Spam
dream theater isn't my favorite band in the world but what mr bungle can't play compared to dream theater they make up in creativity and that is what floats my boat. make a list of bands that sound like mr. bungle and a list that sounds like dream theater and see which list is bigger.

TS: Dream Theater vs. Mr Bungle

that isn't even a contest ffs, dream theater vs. HIM far more OTM

disco volante vinyl repress:
http://www.auralexploits.com/product_5994.htm

this is pretty cool. I always kicked myself for passing on this back in tha day.

The secret track being in the middle of the third track of Disco Volante always makes me soooo happy.

just wanted to say that HI DERE was/is right about Stubb (A Dub)

Everyone needs to scroll back and read (or re-read!) the Mackro/Ned stories about the Celebrity Theater show.

That is the best possible way I could fritter away the remaining hour of this Friday afternoon. Those stories are a fucking treat.

By the way, vote for Bungle in J4gger's 1990s album poll.

I will! completely forgot about that, thanks.

remembering the existence of Mr Bungle is the single biggest spanner in the works of my own ballot

like, there's THREE legitimately brilliant albums to vote for ON TOP OF the eight or nine I'd been carefully prepping

given that disco volante is towards the upper third of my top three albums of all time, I'm guessing I might squeeze it in somewhere...

dude I have my all-time top 5* jockeying for position, more or less

*give or take Still Life, On Land And In The Sea, Blood Inside and Spirit Of Eden

louis, you know i love you, but i can't believe i opened this thread for these worthless posts

this is that thing again isn't it

the thing where i bump a thread for meaningless praise ¬_¬

"i can't believe i opened this thread for these worthless posts"

typing this out every time it's justified will give you serious RSI.

^^^ truthiest of truth bombs

Are you going to vote for Bungle in Jaggers little poll, whiney?

Disco Volante is one of my faves ever, but there's prolly like 50 rap albums I'd put above it

What about Sailing the Seas of Cheese?

maybe like 15 years ago

The glorious funk-metal revolution of 2011 is gonna bite you in the ass, man.

primus and mr bungle are so much more than funk-metal

oh shit sorry another useless post

"California" is such a pretty and exciting album.

read thread as "my bunghule broke up :("

one day I will work out what the best Mr Bungle album is, but that day is not today

IMO it's not the first one.

I'd agree with that if I hadn't been caning the first one pretty hard today - although some of their moral decisions are questionable at best on that one

That album opened my ears to a lot of music that I hadn't paid attention to before: Beach Boys and gamelan being pretty notable.

xp to abbott about california

Their first album is the thing that made me think "Blue Velvet" would be a totally fun-loving party film.

(The Girls Of Porn = the movie Irreversible with a clown mask on)

hahaha I was given Blue Velvet for my birthday and am waiting for a good opportunity to watch it - may just synch it up with the first Mr Bungle album, see what happens

I highly recommend not doing that.

I mean you could but *96 tears*

the first one is the worst of the three and i'm sure every member of mr. bungle would agree with that

Damn dude. For some reason, my wife has a copy of Blue Velvet in her movie collection. It's really out of character for a collection that's mostly cheesy horror and kung fu movies. I've never asked her why and she's never suggested watching it.

xpost
not that the first one isn't great, obv

yeah I'm kinda realising this - it's not as GOOD but it's hella fun, and about half the tracks are stone-dead stunning

disco volante and california are terrifyingly lucid fever-dreams and i treasure them dearly

my skin shrivels a little bit every time the words "funk-metal" and "mr bungle" appear in close proximity.

sjokes, bruv.

even so.

brrr.

i'm the biggest bungle fan there is, and there's no denying that first album was funk-metal, come on now

it has elements of funk-metal, sure, among many other things.

though it is by far the funk-metalest of the three.

'funk metal' makes me think of mordred.

note to self: stop saying funk-metal.

Fettle.

MUNK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izqiUwKihVo

Do you remember
We called you family?
Now you're underground
We call you memory

https://www.instagram.com/p/B1HC4sFgy-q/?igshid=bwytdxnmwkd4

Reunion shows performing the Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny demo with Scott Ian and Dave Lombardo? Select dates in stupid cities far from where I live.

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/mr-bungle-playing-1986-demo-at-first-shows-in-nearly-20-years/

Caught last night's show -- ridiculously good. Just classic 80s underground metal with Ian and Lombardo giving it all extra heft. Logically, when they started it was by covering, mostly straightforwardly, "Won't You Be My Neighbor," with Mike in a red sweater. Later, they did a complete on-the-level cover of "Summer Breeze."

*jealous*

Caught last night's show -- ridiculously good. Just classic 80s underground metal with Ian and Lombardo giving it all extra heft. Logically, when they started it was by covering, mostly straightforwardly, "Won't You Be My Neighbor," with Mike in a red sweater. Later, they did a complete on-the-level cover of "Summer Breeze."

― Ned Raggett

uh, you may not have been paying complete attention to the lyrics patton was singing if you thought it was completely on-the-level, just sayin' :)

https://mrbungle.bandcamp.com/

"Doesn't matter what part of the political spectrum you are on, everyone at some point has said 'Fuck the USA'. The closest thing we have to a universal sentiment," says Spruance.

Not sure about this one chief. Fun cover tho

This version of Mr. Bungle is
Trevor Dunn
Mike Patton
Trey Spruance
Scott Ian
Dave Lombardo

if it's patton, spruance, dunn and your granny on bongos etc

Thrash lives and Mr. Bungle is its prophet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U5ZKKxqUzY

great. as if this year couldn't get any worse.

that ruled. I for one am happy they are back and shredding harder than vacating consulate

that was a pretty good Slayer homage.

lol didn't know Lombardo was in the band ...

Easter Bunny Ruelz

Wanna a/b compare it to the demo vers

like this is better thrash than most vets from that actual era put out

how is Bowel of Chiley compared to this

lol that's RHEA PERLMAN on "Anarchy Up Your Anus"?

I think Patton asked her to do it. He has a very long-lasting friendship with Danny DeVito, who was married to Rhea Perlman. So it was kind of an easy thing to bring up, but I don't think anyone could've thought of a better person to do it because her voice was exactly what we needed for that.

Covering Van Halen’s ”Loss of Control”

Warning: don’t sit too close or your face will melt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L31yd2JMLSc

still remember when dude touched my friend Sandy's butt at a Death Grips show ... and Sandy came over to our friend cluster near the back and exclaimed, "Mike Patton just touched my butt?!" Sorry, this will forever be what Mr. Bungle is most associated with for me.

Mr. Bunghole

was the record he did with Jean-Claude Vannier any good?

The current Mr. Bungle lineup is INSANE, catch this current tour if you can

:)

Yeah seeing said lineup just a few weeks before lockdown was one of those retrospective 'whew at least I saw that happen!' moments.

Is it still the usual three, plus Scott Ian and Lombardo?

A Mr Bungle being investigated in the disappareance of his girlfriend: https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/bay-area-rocker-allegedly-missing-girlfriend-18559664.php

yikes

"not cooperated". yow

(obligatory "bungle up the investigation" joke here)

https://i.postimg.cc/MGCWmLXN/00175478.jpg

Theo Lengyel arrested for murder of girlfriend

Theobald “Theo” Lengyel, a former member of the California art-metal band Mr. Bungle, has been arrested for the murder of his girlfriend. Local ABC affiliate KRCR reports that police in Capitola, California arrested Lengyel yesterday after the remains of Alice “Alyx” Kamakaokalani were discovered in a Berkeley park. According to police, Lengyel was taken into custody without incident.

Police had already named the 54-year-old Lengyel a person of interest in the disappearance of the 61-year-old Kamakaokalani, who went missing early in December. Human remains, believed to belong to Kamakaokalani, were discovered in Tilden Regional Park, though DNA evidence hasn’t yet confirmed it. Lengyel and Kamakaokalani were formerly married, and Lengyel has previously been investigated for domestic violence. In 2017, the same year that they divorced, Kamakaokalani filed a restraining order against Lenyel.

Fuck.

This is such a sad story.

in case anyone is interested in that story, more is documented here. based on this reporting, it seems possible (and will likely be the defense story) that the death was accidental and happened during a fight, and he freaked out and didn't know what to do after he pussied out on killing himself when burying her body. he seems like an exceptionally strange dude. I can't imagine what this train ride from Portland back to the bay area with his brother was like when he was refusing to actually talk about what happened.

https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2024/06/13/courts/alyx-herrmann-murder-case-lengyel-held-to-answer/

Ok, well, if that was going to be the defense story, it's fallen apart now that they found a 3 hour recording of her murder on her phone. Guy is going to prison for the rest of his life.
https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2024/09/28/courts/alyx-herrmann-recorded-her-murder-prosecutors-say/

jesus christ. awful

yeah, this story is really ghastly

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/bay-area-rocker-sentenced-strangling-girlfriend-19901196.php

25 years to life; I'm actually shocked he wasn't given life w/out possibility of parole though I'm pretty certain he will never get out.