Customer Reviews

Born to Be a Motorcycle

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One thing you can say for Bunky -- they have more than enough energy!

This oddball San Diego band blasts out in "Born To Be a Motorcycle," with their rollicking hybrid of arty indiepop, sultry jazz and colourful punk. It takes a little while to get into their sound fully, but it's worth the ride once you've tottered through it. Just don't be surprised if you get dizzy.

"All the kids/alone in the kitchen... I just gotta know/I don't wanna die!" howls Emily Joyce over a frenetic rock beat and a cataclysm of horns. The sound softens up a little with "Yes/No," a peppy pop tune with handclaps, periodic brass blasts, and silky vocals, "If you're cookin' in the kitchen... all the spices that you're missing/are in my heart my heart my heart..."

And then Bunky kicks the style of the first two songs over, for a jazzy folky ballad that erupts halfway through into a rollicking guitar tune ("I was born to be a motorcycle!"). After that, anything goes: slightly demented pop tunes, surreal experimental stuff, dreamlike folkpop, and the shimmering finale "Lipstick Life."

Bunky is a bit more crazed and rollicking than many of Asthmatic Kitty's veteran bands, and has more in common with the recent Shapes and Sizes album. This band is willing to try anything once -- punk, screeching experimental, shoegazer, and generally sounding like Yo La Tengo getting drunk.

It's also a minor superband, with members of Black Heart Procession, Pinback and the Castanets, as well as the two leading people: Rafter Roberts and Emily Joyce, who have worked nonmusically (recording and engineering) with the Liz Janes, the Rapture, Gogol Bordello, the Starlight Mints, and many others.

In this band, however, they lend their talents in a more artistic way: strong vibrant guitar, blasts of energetic brass, smashing percussion, and a colourful dash of synth to make the peppy tunes and surrealistic lyrics pop out. Joyce's high warbly voice is a good counterpart for Roberts' smoother, if somewhat less prominent voice.

Bunky may be born to be a motorcycle, but they were also apparently born to make some solid, fun indiepop. This debut album is one of Asthmatic Kitty's weirdest and most amusing.

Yo La Tengo meets a spoonful of sugar. This is one of those records that could get you into trouble. Every song is great. Take it slow.