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NEW DOUBLE LP
New sealed copy. Rhino Records Rocktober 2025 limited edition reissue on translucent ruby red coloured vinyl.
California is the third and final studio album by Mr. Bungle, released on July 13, 1999, through Warner Bros. Records. After the dense experimentation of Disco Volante, the band shifted toward a more melodic and cinematic approach, blending surf rock, lounge pop, exotica, and orchestral elements with their trademark unpredictability. The result is a strange yet accessible record that feels both nostalgic and surreal, evoking the bright veneer and hidden darkness of its namesake.
Though smoother in tone, California was still an ambitious production. Much of it was recorded in the band’s own makeshift studio before being completed across multiple facilities, a process bassist Trevor Dunn later described as “a nightmare.” Drawing on influences ranging from the Beach Boys to Ennio Morricone, the album captures the band’s fascination with beauty and disaster—lush harmonies and sweeping arrangements often collapsing into chaos. Tracks like “Retrovertigo,” “Ars Moriendi,” and “Pink Cigarette” showcase this duality, balancing melodic clarity with eccentric detail.
Critics praised California as one of Mr. Bungle’s most cohesive and daring works. Pitchfork called it “an album you can’t believe a major label had anything to do with,” while AllMusic noted how it managed to be “defiantly odd yet strangely beautiful.” Over time, it has come to be viewed as the band’s swan song—a haunting and intricate farewell that distilled their experimental spirit into something deeply human.
TRACKLIST:
A1 Sweet Charity
A2 None Of Them Knew They Were Robots
B1 Retrovertigo
B2 The Air-Conditioned Nightmare
B3 Ars Moriendi
C1 Pink Cigarette
C2 Golem II: The Bionic Vapour Boy
C3 The Holy Filament
D1 Vanity Fair
D2 Goodbye Sober Day
D3 Gnosterces
