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NUCLEAR RABBIT

RIO/Avant-Prog • United States


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Nuclear Rabbit biography
Founded in Novato, USA in 1989 - Hiatus between 2000-2002 - Situation unknown as of 2017

A Californian avantgarde metal unit NUCLEAR RABBIT have got started and extended around their yellow center line Jean BAUDIN (bass) since 1989. Jean and three music mates Pat GARNER (guitar), Steve "Stymie" SIGATY (drums), and Greg PARRISH (voices) have played on stage or recorded some demos with borderless music genres and styles. After replacements of the guitarists (Thom BURGER, followed by Jason BRANYAN), they finally released their full-length debut album "Intestinal Fortitude" in 1998. Upon recording an EP "More Human" Jon SCULLION replaced Greg as a vocalist. Via hibernation for a few years, NUCLEAR RABBIT reunited in 2002 with their original line-up.Their second album "Mutopia" was released in the following year.

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NUCLEAR RABBIT discography


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NUCLEAR RABBIT top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

4.19 | 12 ratings
Intestinal Fortitude
1998
4.18 | 8 ratings
Mutopia
2003

NUCLEAR RABBIT Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

NUCLEAR RABBIT Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

NUCLEAR RABBIT Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

4.25 | 4 ratings
Vicuna
1997

NUCLEAR RABBIT Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

0.00 | 0 ratings
Bowling For Midgets (Demo)
1991
0.00 | 0 ratings
More Human
2000

NUCLEAR RABBIT Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Vicuna by NUCLEAR RABBIT album cover Boxset/Compilation, 1997
4.25 | 4 ratings

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Vicuna
Nuclear Rabbit RIO/Avant-Prog

Review by siLLy puPPy
Special Collaborator PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic

4 stars The metal version of the Easter bunny with rancid eggs, hehehe! This album seemed appropriate for this review on Easter Sunday, the 21st of April 2019. Not only for the obvious RABBIT connotations but also because this band was formed in Novato, CA which is the first destination i moved to in the San Francisco Bay Area and have ended up living there many times over my restless Bay Area living experience. How in the world did i not know about this band for so long when i'm definitely one who craves the most weird and demented expressions of the metal world? Well, that is no longer the case and NUCLEAR RABBIT has become more than a curiosity in my world but a band that delivers some far out funk metal weirdness taken to the n-th degree. And when i say weird, i totally mean it!

Not only does this band resonate with me on the aforementioned levels but ironically the founder and virtuoso bassist Jean Baudin has become one of the Bay Area's foremost underground bassists with his classic 11 string bass guitars and is often seen playing video game tunes at the Santa Clara based California Extreme event where classic 80s arcade video games congregate en masse for a larger than life retro experience where Pac-Man, Berzerk, Centipede, Donkey Kong and a gazillion other unknown games are ready for one to take a trip back to the 80s / 90s timeline. Whoah. While i digress, this actually applies to NUCLEAR RABBIT's debut album VICUNA as well. Funk rock / metal was all the rage in the 80s and 90s with bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fishbone, 24/7 Spyz, Extreme, Primus, Living Colour, Faith No More and of course Mr Bungle were rocking out wit da funk turned up to 11!

While the band was created in 1989 by Jean Baudin who wanted to create music that wasn't confined to any particular genre, it seems that the funk and ska thing won out. While Baudin started out as the vocalist / bassist along with Pat Garner (guitar) and Steve Sigaty (drums), the true magic started once vocalist Greg Parrish joined the cast and NUCLEAR RABBIT started to develop its own weird persona that would propel them into one of the Bay Area's most revered cult metal acts that still persists to this very day. While clearly following in the footsteps of the first Mr Bungle album's goofy take on potty mouth immaturity married with prog rock sophistication, NUCLEAR RABBIT took a harder edged cue from the thrash metal infused energetic approach of Infectious Grooves, the solo project of Suicidal Tendencies frontman and lead vocalist Mike Muir. Add a bit of over the top Zappa antics and a touch of indie pop inspired Ween weirdness and voila!!! The perfect recipe for some Dr. Demento styled metal all funked up 2 da max.

While VICUNA is technically the debut album by NUCLEAR RABBIT, it is in reality it is a compilation of tracks from the four demos: "Poo Factory (1990)," "Bowling for Midgets (1991)," "Utensil Extravaganza (1992)" and "Spork 2000 (1993)" which is the reason this album despite its 1997 release sounds very much grounded in the funk metal paradigm of the early 90s. However since the demos were never really released, this is a bona fide album that marks the debut of one of the Bay Area's most bizarre bands and that's saying a lot in these parts! While Baudin is famous for his 11-string bass guitar, on these earliest recordings he simply abuses a 5- string Ralf bass and it is his outstanding virtuosic playing that makes this one helluva roller coaster ride despite the clear influences on the band's sleeves. They really take things to the next level and VICUNA truly delivers in not only the absurdity department but really excels in some of the most off-kilter progressive takes on funk rock, metal, ska, punk, jazz as well as ethnic influences from all over these freaky planet.

Other than Baudin's brash bravado on the funkified bass with unique techniques of tapping, slapping and popping the strings, the next star of this show clearly belongs to vocalist Greg Parrish who not only mimics Mike Patton of Mr Bungle, Frank Zappa as well as the singer Mike Silverman from the long forgotten band The Fabulous Hedgehogs as well as the mastermind behind That 1 Guy, but also delivers some of the most eccentric vocal antics that actually exceed anything Mike Patton has conjured up in his lengthy career. Parrish not only takes yodeling to a new level of weirdness but also delivers some highly bizarre vocal styles that i've never heard anywhere else. The tracks are all generally silly and mock the consumer culture such as on the hilarious tracks like "Supermarket," "The San Francisco Treat" and "Parkay."

VICUNA is clearly for those who don't take music too seriously but then again it is totally for those who take music seriously! This dichotomy and attitudes in opposition is what makes this appealing. Generally speaking, the tracks are based on funky bass lines that deliver an instantly addictive groove with ridiculous subject matter and then turn to left field by taking things in a totally opposite direction often with off-kilter time signature freakouts and musical insanity with hardcore technical wizardry. The attitude is clearly rooted in punk rock with most tracks exhibiting a brevity but a few like "A Little Squirrel And His Crack Pipe" taking many twists and turns and extending to much longer lengths. This compiled debut represents the first phase of the band's career. Soon after the release Pat Garner left the band and was replaced by Jason Brandon. The band enjoyed minor success after touring with Green Day, PUYA, Grip Inc., Deftones, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Melvins, MDC and the Skankin' Pickle but lost momentum by taking several years to craft a followup. While not as OMG brilliant as Mr Bungle, this is definitely the next best thing and not to be missed by freaky avant-garde metal lovers on the funkier side of the spectrum.

 Mutopia by NUCLEAR RABBIT album cover Studio Album, 2003
4.18 | 8 ratings

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Mutopia
Nuclear Rabbit RIO/Avant-Prog

Review by VOTOMS

5 stars Review n° 223

Nuclear Rabbit - Mutopia

These guys music is pretty much as any Mike Patton masterpiece. Mr. Bungle/Faith No More experimental era fans will find love with this band. So on, after a little change in the line-up, we have Mutopia. Different from the past material, but same level of creativity and enjoyment. Overall, this is the less avant-garde Nuclear Rabbit album. I would call it a progressive/technical melodic hardcore album with some death metal influence. As the technical metal shines brighter, mainly with Jean's monsterpieceful 11 string bass, Nuclear Rabbit sounds more alternative too. There's an incredible increase of melodic passages, and even emotive riffs and vocals like those from "Alone With My Clone" and "Truth's Ugly Head". The ska & funk side of the band was almost totally exchanged by a hardcore/rapcore/grindcore beat, some tracks even reminds me of Biohazard and their kind of band. Double bass pedals became usual, and together with the fusion of guitar and bass riffage, sometimes seems a modern post-hardcore band. Unfortunatelly, this is the last known release of the band. The guys stated they're writing new tunes on 2008, and since then, only played together once (2011). If they are planning to put something out, better think twice. Their short all-star catalogue shouldn't be ruined in my opinion.

 Intestinal Fortitude by NUCLEAR RABBIT album cover Studio Album, 1998
4.19 | 12 ratings

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Intestinal Fortitude
Nuclear Rabbit RIO/Avant-Prog

Review by VOTOMS

5 stars Review n° 222

Nuclear Rabbit -Fortitude

So, here's the first official album by the californian avant rocker group Nuclear Rabbit. Intestinal Fortitude speaks to you at first sight through another genial gruesome cover art. It defines the sound and lyrics pretty well. Yet a total nonsensical bad taste humor. Far heavier than before and much more focused on technical/avant-prog metal, the bass player Jean Baudin is clearly the highlight of the album. There are groovy and street tendencies, Greg Parrish crazy vocals and Jason Branyan guitars still bearing Mike Patton's ugliest works, jumping from experimental deathgrind to a smooth melodic random circumstance without losing coherence (maybe not). This album grabs me from the start, "My Girl's Got Guts", where the band presents a catchy unique melodic technical death funk vibe adding even some country and middle- eastern riffs in between sections. The drums adds to the technical metal mood, and here the band started using double bass pedals here and there (something that became more frequent with the next release). Brilliant and dope. An album to listen while frying casino's paper advertisements hidden from your sons and daughters.

 Vicuna by NUCLEAR RABBIT album cover Boxset/Compilation, 1997
4.25 | 4 ratings

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Vicuna
Nuclear Rabbit RIO/Avant-Prog

Review by VOTOMS

5 stars Review n° 221

Nuclear Rabbit - Vicuna

Maybe you have noticed I'm only rating the medium - low quality albums and writing reviews mainly for stuff I would be really glad reccomending to you. So, this is the next step. Nuclear Rabbit is a top notch american avant-garde metal band, a gem of the underground. Raised together in the 90s California scene with Primus, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Mr. Bungle and Tool, they got this funky metal groove and that experimental shapeshiftin' style I love so much , very close to Mr. Bungle bizarre song structure, but unfortunattely there's no wind or brass. Vicuna is their first full lenght CD, and actually, it's a collection of demos and early years recording, concluding a 27 short-medium lenght tracks powerful demented album. Like an unexpected rotating helter skelter of riffs bending between death metal, children melodies, funk and just plain weirdness, this record can't get boring, shooting out a shower of surprises. The natural awesomeness starts with the creative cover art. The Pattonesque vocals are bloody well made, I could say it reflecs the pure lost of mental sanity. Lyrics and song titles leads the album with an acid humor and nonsense. Guitar and bass did an excelent job, intelligent psycho ecletic riffs and technically well done, sounding catchy, leaving the listener alert, interested for the next passage, wondering what the hell will happen out of a sudden. Finally, you will find any leftover after the hyperactive drums found here. Terrific men playing freak music with good taste and a sick random sense of humor. Thanks god there are other people like this.

Thanks to dAmOxT7942 for the artist addition. and to Quinino for the last updates

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