Iwrestledabearonce - 'It's All Happening'

Knock knock. Who’s there? A talented young band that thinks they’re funny, but they’re not. But what’s worse is that such a talented group is wasting its potential by crafting annoying songs (and what’s even worse is that the band can draw hundreds of kids to shows). It’s almost as though a group of musically talented emo kids, some of them perhaps adorned with obligatory ironic mustaches, got into death metal and grindcore via Slipknot…and then they decided to start a “weird” band that would make their friends laugh. Not much more needs to be said. Seriously.

In fairness, Iwrestledabearonce know how to play their instruments, and they are relatively well versed in extreme metal and hardcore territories, as well as with synth pop. Krysta Cameron, in particular, stands out with a powerful set of pipes, whether she’s crooning in a Bjork-esque manner (best exemplified on ambient pop song “Black-eyed Bush”) or scraping her vocal chords against the pavement with her guttural growls and hellish screams.

The problem is that Mr. Bungle mastered the whacky, throw-every-genre-into-a-blender approach years ago, and bands attempting to copy them are still doing their best to catch up. Whether or not Iwrestledabearonce even know who Mr. Bungle is, they are still far behind.

Throughout It’s All Happening, the abrupt genre shifts don’t make sense, and they don’t work. Presumably they’re trying to be funny, but in “Tastes Like Kevin Bacon,” for instance, the shifting between ’80s synth pop to generic deathcore breakdowns, sometimes interspersed with cartoon noises, is simply pathetic. If it’s supposed to be a joke, it’s just not funny. If it’s supposed to keep you on your toes…well, it’s actually quite predictable.

And this is precisely what the problem is. When they shift gears between styles, rather than transitioning smoothly, it’s drastic and nonsensical.

The album’s title couldn’t be any more apt. Yes, it certainly is all happening in terms of genre bouncing. It’s just terrible. A poor man’s Mr. Bungle….a very poor man’s Mr. Bungle.

(released June 2, 2009 on Century Media Records)