Mike Patton is avant-metal's man of a thousand voices, and a good 900 of them can be heard in Mr. Bungle's catalog alone. Of all his many, varying projects — Faith No More, Fantômas, Dead Cross, Tomahawk, Peeping Tom and more — the eccentric vocalist has never outmatched the singular insanity of the music he's made with Trey Spruance, Trevor Dunn and their gang of cohorts.
The experimental juggernaut only have four records to their name, but each one contains dozens of outlandishly brilliant ideas that form the basis of their sprawling, gleefully unpredictable songs. We asked our readers to pick the single greatest Bungle track of the bunch, and out of all the divergent responses, the top five vote-getters are ranked accordingly below.
5. "Carry Stress in the Jaw"
"Carry Stress in the Jaw" sounds like two songs playing at once — in a good way. This nine-minute acid trip from Bungle's most challenging album, Disco Volante, ricochets maddeningly between John Zorn-ian free-jazz , savage thrash metal, woozy island music, demented surf and much more. Positively insane, which is just what Bungle do best.
4. "Squeeze Me Macaroni"
You know you're in for something left-field with a song called "Squeeze Me Macaroni," but this is even more batshit than you could possibly imagine. Rapped verses that sound like the Red Hot Chili Peppers on Whippits contrast jarringly with a sunny funk hook where Patton chirps, "Knick knack paddy wack," like a member of the Supremes. All of that is laced with bulges of nightmarish metal, and somehow, it all works.
3. "Stubb (A Dub)"
"Stubb (A Dub)" is one of the songs on Bungle's self-titled debut where they mold deranged circus music into something so foreboding and rhythmically heavy that you can almost mosh to it. This surreal, yet weirdly profound tale about a beloved family dog wrestles with existentialism, death and dog poop. Lots of dog poop.
2. "Retrovertigo"
Widely considered Bungle's masterpiece, 1999's California saw the band reign in some of their most avant-garde tendencies while simultaneously pushing their sound into even more ambitious directions. "Retrovertigo" is a clear standout in that regard, an unexpectedly tear-jerking, Radiohead-esque ballad that builds and builds until the trudging, blown-out guitars and industrial drums take over. Patton's voice soars. The emotion is palpable. It's a knockout.
1. "Goodbye Sober Day"
Interesting pick, Revolver readers. A song from California was destined to end up at the No. 1, but we would've wagered that something like "Pink Cigarette" or "Sweet Charity" might take the top spot. "Goodbye Sober Day" is a fantastic choice, though. The album's unsettling closer sounds like it's being deconstructed and put back together in real time, oscillating between new-age trippiness, crunching noise-rock and concluding in a fiery blaze of broken glass and screaming civilians. It's impossible to pick one song that defines Bungles' many multitudes, but "Goodbye Sober Day" is a damn good pick.
