California dreamin'? Heck yes I am now that I got my paws on Mr. Bungle's newly issued third (and possibly final) LP, California, at long last! Originally released in 1999, Plain Recordings has done Mike Patton & company's stunning, genre-grinding "pop oriented" album nothin' but justice by offering this overflowing kitchen sink of experimental-rock on heavy wax for those of us who simply cannot get enough of the maelstrom of diverse influences --- ranging from swing, rockabilly, country & western, bossa nova, Hawaiian and Middle Eastern music, jazz, Zappa-esque doo wop, arty-funk, post-rock, space-age pop, spaghetti-Western music, warped circus melodies, new age, heavy metal and exotica --- that somehow manage to sound cohesive and linear against savage spates of juxtaposed music-making wizardry. Among many brilliant moments stitched into the body of this masterwork is the inclusion of stylistically head-banging kecak vocals (Indonesian "monkey chanting") on the album's final track, "Goodbye Sober Day." In this respect I reckon that Mr. Bungle's California could be reviewed as just another ripple in the weird "world beat" well, but I believe this record serves as proof that pre-Y2K global fusion, musically speaking, needn't entirely be remembered as naive Cirque du Soleil-caliber dregs of whimsical frivolity to be trampled by the likes of Michael Flatley. No, this album plays like rose-tinted muse blender on puree, partying with the lifetime achievements of Brian Wilson and Burt Bacharach like it's 1999!

Mr. Bungle - "Sweet Charity"


Mr. Bungle - "Goodbye Sober Day"