Bunnygrunt
Karen Hater’s Fan Club
Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records

Matt Harnish and Karen Ried formed this hyperactive pop band back in the late ’90s but had, until recently, gone their separate ways. They reunited last year for a music festival in Georgia and decided to give Bunnygrunt another try. The result is this short lo-fi blast that is like a nice piece of candy: sweet and easy to digest but ultimately unsatisfying.

The charm of this record is in its unpretentiousness. The songs are short and too the point and sound like they were thrown together by the pair in a basement with a bunch of friends and a lot of soda pop. That tossed off quality unfortunately filters to the rather silly lyrical content found here. I’m sure there’s a reference to a film or comic book in the song “Big Head Baby” but the horror show lyrics don’t do the fun melodies and smattering of horns justice. Other songs try for more political aims as well as taking aim at a “Hometown Rockstar” but flatline quickly. There is also the issue of the addition of tracks like the opener “Bunnygrunt @ Budokan” (a squall of feedback and people screaming a la a live show) and the two part “Karen Vs. Eric Hall” which features incoherent singing. This album could have easily lost those three tracks and made a fine EP.

Listening to this record a few times, I get the sneaking feeling that if I could flip the critical switch in my brain to “off” for a little while and accept this record for the casual poppy fun that it sounds like it is, then I might think better of it. But with that switch firmly stuck to “on”, I’ve got to say that this record was quite a let down.