Customer Reviews

Smack Bunny Baby

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sometime in late 1993, I went into a shop that was a gallery for local art upstairs, used books on the main floor, and music in the basement. I was looking for the Candlebox CD (for my sister, I swear) and this album was playing. I was mildly interested, so I asked about it. The guy behind the counter said that I should buy both this and the Candlebox disc, and he'd refund my money if I liked Candlebox more. Candlebox, at the time, was at least catchy to me so I figured it was a safe bet. Needless to say, I never went in asking for my money back.

A couple years later, Brainiac came through my hometown and I went to see them. They only played one song from this disc, and they rocked. After the show they went outside and hung out with the mob of Brainiac fans that had gone to see them. Very nice guys. Shortly after that, I found out that Timmy Taylor (the singer) had died in a car accident. Very sad.

This is a great disc, as are their others. Out of the several CDs I've purchased over the years, this is one of the few that has maintained a place in the ever-changing rotation. The reason that this disc (and band) is so good is that they are purely concerned with a good song. Technique be damned. It's just 100% cool melodies, hooks, and layered sound with dumb/cool/funny lyrics on top. Definitely worth the money and then some.

Brainiac transcended a lot of genres and made some excellent records doing it, this one included. Smack Bunny Baby is a lot of fun for those who like Devo, Circle X (influenced Slint,Swans and SY, possibly Brainiac), Drive Like Jehu (to a small extent, maybe time changes, energy, craziness?), The Fall, Suicide, Gang of Four, Stevie Wonder, SY, Pixies, James Chance and the Contortions as well as the newer bands like Dismemberment Plan, Q and not U etc. I don't really have a "favorite" of theirs since all of their albums are amazing in their own way. Unfortunately, I wasn't one who saw them for 4 bucks with GirlsvsBoys in the day and they missed playing my hometown on the Hissing Prigs tour because of van problems. Luckily I got into Brainiac due to student radio. If you're tired of your current music collection, get this or any other Brainiac album. Even if you don't like their sound, you probably won't be "bored" by them and after 3 or 4 listens (as with the case for myself) you might actually start to like them. I once saw some live material and they slayed! No wave, new wave, post punk and some soul and whala! You've got Brainiac, definitely one of the better indie underground bands of the 90's.

About a week ago, I bought my first Brainiac CD: Electroshock for President, I now own 2 more Brainiac CD's: Bonsai Superstar and this one. This is a great cd, but I would recommend Bonsai Superstar first, because although this one is very good, it's not really in the same style as the others. This CD is more guitar driven, whereas the others are more electronic. If you like Nirvana, Radiohead, and Sonic Youth, you will enjoy Brainiac.