Bonk Western Soul

[Racing Junior; 2004]

Rating: 2/5

Styles: punk rock, metal, stoner jams
Others: Queens of the Stone Age, Andrew WK, Flipper


"Sleazy hippies of the Oslo punk scene" Grotterud and Koren are Bonk. And they got one of those name's like Gob, Fuck or !!!, suggesting that those involved lost interest in subtlety and decided just to yell at us to get our attention. Okay, you have me. Now what. Oh no. Is this dancepunk? What a stupid idea. WHO THOUGHT OF THAT BULLSHIT!!! Oh wait a minute, so this isn't so dancepunk after all. There's the techno touches that make me feel like I'm about to listen to a White Zombie song, but then it all goes out the window for the guitars and shouting.

Okay so onto the next track. Faster bpms, and I'm getting a very Black Flag-era punk feel combined with something a little more new wave. So, basically, new wave. This would be exciting if I hadn't heard this sort of sound more times than I could possibly ever count. Track three, "Sarah" just makes me want to hear You're Living All Over Me, because its winsome lead guitar part almost identical to that of "The Lung." According to their label, somebody spotted Nick Nolte head-banging at a Bonk show. How cool. I love Cape Fear. We should actually talk about that film, because it's a lot more interesting than the been-there-done-that flavor soaking Western Soul. I think, while Deniro may steal the show with his so-greasy-you-can-smell-it demeanor, Nolte gives a convincing performance along with Jessica Lange as victims of each other's marital bullshit. That scene where she's putting on lipstick in the darkness really creeps me out for some reason. Maybe it's the score. Idunno.

So, uh, go get some Royal Trux. Pick up that Scene Cremers or go to back and check out some Hawkwind or Motorhead. Lemmy might dig these guys, for all I know, but that doesn't change shit. This music sucks balls and when it doesn't it just sounds like dumb rock that others have done with more aplomb. Headbangers, kill yout braincells to something else. Bonk goes bonk, bonk, bonk. They don't rock in any lasting sense of the word. And on top of everything, they have to stand shirtless, looking like stoned new arrivals to a concentration camp, on their album cover. What dipshits. "The Monkey King Creates Havoc in Heaven" isn't a bad track though. Kind of interesting.

1. Front Page
2. Grooverman
3. Sarah
4. Ni Hao Mama
5. Comfort With a Soul
6. Wasted Love
7. Policecar
8. The Monkey King Creates Havoc in Heaven
9. Waiting in a Car
10. I Can't Dance