siLLy puPPy
Out of all the bands to find Mr Bungle as the primary influence in their genre skipping schizoid madness to making music, perhaps none was more successful in its endeavors than the Santa Cruz, CA based ESTRADASPHERE and after the band’s debut “It’s Understood,” the band returned the very next year to unleash its second electric cauldron of every genre and the kitchen sink in the form of BUCK FEVER. And if the comparisons to Bungle and its offspring project Secret Chiefs 3 weren’t already apparent then the production help of Trey Spruance on this sophomore album will only cement the connection but after all several members had already played with Spruance so the family reunion continues.
The debut album already displayed a knack for unbridled ferocity in genre skipping, fusion blending and the drop of the hat schizoid shifts from relaxing massage music to death metal and everywhere in between. BUCK FEVER continues all of this and takes it all even further by covering several styles of jazz, klezmer, surf rock, doo-wop, chiptune video game music, disco, funk, avant-prog and three styles of metal: black, death and grindcore. The entire album is the genre purists nightmare come true and the most representative successor of the Bungle legacy after that band’s retirement in 2000. The band who plays on BUCK FEVER consists of only five musicians but between them they cover a whopping 40 plus instruments which gives this album a rather busy sound.
It all starts off with a title track that that alone covers many ground but remains in a 60s sort of surf rock mode with Bungle’s “California” album as a prime source of inspiration with catchy booty shaking dance grooves, kitschy 60s pop charm and a horn section that’s on fire during the uptempo swings. The tracks vary considerably as “The Dapper Bandits” jumps into Balkan gypsy jazz number but finds itself wending and winding through jittery progressive time signature shifts and even a polka section. The next track is one of my favorites, the atmospheric black metal “The Silent Elk of Yesterday,” with haunting female vocals and arpeggiated psychedelic guitars leading in the melodic blasts of heavy guitar riffs. It’s more like a mix of black, alternative and classic 80s metal with sizzling solos and eerie ambience.
After the black metal bombast, “Crag Lake” is a cute little 8-bit chiptune video game track that reminds me of Frogger as the little froggie hopped up the lily pads to get to the other side. “Meteor Showers” jumps back into a very experimental Balkan gypsy jazz / polka track but also mixes in some metal, chiptune and ska but ends as a 60s Baroque pop track in the vein of the Beach Boys complete with excellent harmonies by many of the members along with an authentic sax solo. These guys can really pull it all off effortlessly. “The Bounty Hunter” is another jazzy Balkan folk track, “Super Buck ii” is a lounge jazz cover of the Super Mario Bros 2 video game theme and a damn good cover as well! “Millennium Child” reminds me of the Mike Patton ballads on the Bungle “California” album except Dave Murray dishes out blastbeats most of the duration.
“Trampoline Klan” is yet another chiptune track. “Burnt Corpse” is a very short burst of brutal death metal immediately followed by another cheery 30s jazz styled number in “Rise N Shine.” “Bride of the Buck” has a spoken narration over new age keyboards and my vote for the worst track on the album. “A Very Intense Battle” is the longest track on the album at 8:40 and starts off with a heavy muddled mix of keyboards, guitars, bass and drums and some spoken narrative in the background. It evolves into a grindcore / death metal hybrid with atmospheric keyboards and progressive time signatures zigzagging every now and again. As the title suggests, it is indeed very intense. “Green Hill” is another chiptune track and at this point one too many. In fact by the time i get to this part of the album it feels too long as neither the disco fueled gypsy jazz number “Feed Your Mama’s Meter” nor the finale “What Deers May Come” with a silly skit about the theme seem like filler.
Overall ESTRADASPHERE cranked out an excellent followup as they navigated through the genre list like pros but the repetition of certain ideas ruin the surprise factor and the length of the album should’ve been trimmed to around 45 minutes and this would’ve been a much more effective experience but for the most part this is quite the enjoyable slice of Bungle fever taken into the next century and proves that this band has all the chops and sense of humor to pull it off however due to the album’s inconsistency in no way dethrones the Bunglers from their perch as quirkiest prog artist since Zappa. This will surely not appeal to everyone since you have to be able to hang with the myriad genres that are juggled but for those of us who love left field twists and turns to who knows where then you can’t go wrong with ESTRADASPHERE and BUCK FEVER is a worthy successor to the eclectic wild ride of the debut.