Release Date: September 21, 2010
There is a reason punk is dead. Some of the blame can be laid on Saturday morning cartoon acts like Nobunny. This chucklehead has a circus-like air about his music that is chillingly reminiscent of the shit Green Day and the Offspring put out in the earlier part of the last decade.
His recent contribution to garage punk, a 24-and-a-half minute walk through obscurity called First Blood, borders on the realms of barely tolerable and something good to have as part of a playlist on in the background during a midnight cram session. Parading around stage in a bunny mask with a number of other props ranging from panties to ball gags doesn’t sound much like wholesome family entertainment. But the idea that some perverse Animaniac is landing gigs and wowing music fans is something to be said.
Though entertaining, Nobunny’s attempt at garage music falls short of anything that would be considered good punk.
This album is a short, staccato-stepping myriad of fun songs that could piss off the hardest punkers or get the right people in the right frame of mind out of their seats and ripping a venue apart in a tireless rage.
Let’s take a step back and figure out what’s being said. First Blood has all the makings of an album worth listening to. The songs are all catchy; the lyrics are edgy, fun, in your face and occasionally outright fucking weird. “(Do The) Fuck Yourself” is friggin’ wild! Its punchiness and joviality wrap together like a candy cane that’s been half sucked by a toothless, dirt bag kid and put back on the tree for others to discover on Christmas morning.
Nobunny takes the time to put that doo-wop sound into his music that the punk world really hasn’t seen in strong numbers since the Ramones left the scene. Songs like “Ain’t it a Shame” and “Pretty Little Trouble” really drive the point home with the pumped guitar and “ooohs and aaahs” the ’50s made popular.
“Blow Dumb” and “Pretty Please Me” have that circus appeal mentioned earlier. And with the cute whistling in the background, “Pretty Please Me” could easily find itself on Mr. Rogers’ iPod.
If there is anything to take away from this album, it’s that each song in its own right needs to be out there, needs to have public attention and needs to get some playtime. After all, those who don’t get out socially become the next Jack the Ripper or H.H. Holmes (Google the last one, he was one fucked up dude).
This album was about as cool to listen to as hearing a Pearl Jam cover of “Last Kiss” played over and over again on the radio for a decade straight. But there are a lot of worse collections out there (anything by Milli Vanilli for example). All things considered, Nobunny can cut the swears, trim the content to be more kid-friendly, move up to the Pacific Northwest and write children’s books with Sir Mix-A-Lot and PUSA front-man Chris Ballew and still find the same success.
