Mr. Bungle has evolved through a wild variety of contrasting musical styles. Sometimes described as ‘circus ska’ or ‘weirdo funk’, their three major label studio records – including California, Disco Volante and their selftitled 1990 debut – are entirely different to what the group played when they formed as a ‘death metal’ band in 1985. Indeed, their debut 1986 demo The Raging Wrath of The Easter Bunny shows the band dabbling in thrash and punk before expanding their influences to include the likes of Oingo Boingo and Camper Van Beethoven, while still retaining traces of Slayer and Anthrax.
Featuring the woozy, squeaky saxophone playing of past member Clinton ‘Bär’ McKinnon and the tribal-yet-jazzy playing of former Bungle drummer Danny Heifetz, the disorienting artistic elements preserved on Mr. Bungle's three Warner Brothers albums are far removed from metal and punk, but they're what solidified the group's reputation as a famous cult band with a punkish spirit. So too did the success of co-founding member and lead vocalist Mike Patton, whose work with Faith No More helped
