Rabbit Junk on purevolume™

Electronica / Metal / Punk

Rabbit Junk has been carving out a festering niche in the over crowded underground since their self released debut was unleashed in '04. And while chafing under the ultra-orthodox confines of Seattle's indy-pop dominated music scene, their latest effort, REframe, has been found infecting fringe enthusiasts from Japan to the UK. Bravely flaunting pop influences and proudly displaying metal and electronic heritage, Rabbit Junk is another nail in the coffin of both Seattle's grunge heyday and JP's previous project The Shizit. And now that they're armed to the teeth with a new record, a live band, and a growing fan base, JP and the mysteriously anonymous "Sum Grrrl" are hellbent on spreading the Rabbit Junk virus to a club near you. Genre purists beware!

JP, the mastermind behind Rabbit Junk, is one guy who just doesnt know how to sell himself. Let me give you an example: He writes and records everything himself, tracking a full bands worth of instruments and 5 DJs worth of not-so-subtle electronics into a 59 minute, rule breaking romp into a post-industrial hell world. And when it comes to writing a few sentences for a bio, he chokes. What the fuck? Rabbit Junk is DIY to the extreme with emphasize on the singularity of yourself. But writing a bio seems to be the one thing he cant pull off on his lonesome. He mastered his own record, does all the art, does all the promo bullshit (or maybe he doesnt, if youve never heard of RJ), but when it comes to selling himself, his hard work, his innovation in several genres, he is utterly impotent. Its ironic, yet typical. He hates talking about himself; he hides the fact that hes even a musician to his day job chums. Fuckin a, If I could pull all this shit off, Id tell the world 24/7. But him, noooo. "Dont say that it's just a one guy thing" he told me. Why the fuck not? "People dont like one guy bands" he says. That's when I have to remind that hes not actually completely alone in this band, referring to the grrl punk vocalizations of Sum Grrl, the other band member. "Oh yeah" he says. Fuck. See that, underneath all that bashful humility, hes just a self centered artist. Again, fucking typical.

But I have to say, Rabbit Junks music is not typical. You can clearly hear the influences, yes. Hes obviously into metal, shit like In Flames, Arch Enemy, and Strapping Young lad. I think its probably some sort of guilty pleasure for him. He cant resist throwing in a blast beat here and there, or some chunky metal riffage ala [insert latest Swedish metal export here]. And he definitely likes old school punk, some of his vocals sound like a tribute to Johny Rotten in between his throaty screaming, and the metal often degenerates into hooky punk rocker oi shit. This is where Sum Grrl comes in, throwing distinctively bratty female vocals over the choruses, giving the track a kinda Le Tigre or Brat mobile feel. And permeating all of the organic rock is a slew of electronics, from Jungle to Hip Hop, to Gabber- it's a clusterfuck of influences, but it comes off focused somehow. I might even dare to say that its a "new sound". But I dont think I'll dare until some major music mag takes the leap first. Its certainly not a new idea to make electronic/metal/punk/whatthefuckever/ music. Atari Teenage Riot comes to mind, and that was like 10 fucking years ago. Not to mention all the industrial shit like ministry and Nineinchfuckingnails. And theres nothing shocking about having a girl in the band either. Again, ATR, back when you were still pre-pubescent. But its something about the attitude of it all that makes it seem new. Its hard to pin down, but its like he gives you something familiar to chew on for about a second and then thrusts some unexpected ingredient down your throat with sadistic glee. But instead of choking, you say huh, thats pretty good, Ill have another. I love food analogies. Anway, Rabbit Junk doesnt respect the purity of any genre. He's perfectly willing to take his supped up machine into anybodys backyard. Hmm, I love car analogies too.

"Dont mention the fucking Shizit" he told me. This was one of the many suggestions he gave me before I started this little favor for him. My response? Um, fuck you JP, write your own god damn bio then, or back the fuck up. "Dont mention the Shizit", why the fuck not!? Again, If I had been fronting a band that had like half a million downloads on the now defunct mp3.com and had toured the UK with ex ATR front man Alec Empire, I wouldnt keep it a fucking secret. He says he wants to start new, that he doesnt want to deal with any old school Shizit fan's expectations. We can now add "Pussy" to the long list of derogatory terms I use to describe him. Expectations? Like what, that youll fucking rock? You WILL rock, asshole, you will rock till the cows come home or youll have to answer to every old shizit fan (like myself) while they drag your scrotum across barbed fucking wire!

"And dont talk about Seattle either". Ok, now Im really fucking tired of this. What the fuck can I talk about? People want to know where youre from, dipshit. "Seattle hates my music" he says in response. Well you know what, get the fuck over it. You live in Seattle and people want to know this. Its true, Rabbit Junk has sold more CDs in far off Tokyo than in their home town of Seattle, and the UK seems home to Rabbit Junks most dedicated fan base. But this is because JP writes off Seattle (and the west coast in general) as unreceptive to his music and promotes over seas. Maybe if he got his ass out there and played more shows in poo balls Seattle, he would find a different response. Contrary to what you would hear from JP, Seattle does have a fucking metal/hardcore/punkthatdoestsuck scene, and a good one too. Maybe he would notice if he would stop being such a fucking snob, and get out to a show every once in a while. But I agree that Rabbit Junk would have a hard time playing a Screamo/metalcore show, the likes of which heavily dominates the local scene. That crowd probably wouldn't get it. And the industrial scene is way too stuck in the early 90s PVC sexy EBM paradigm. Rabbit Junk will just have to carve out its own niche. But I think even musically conservative Seattle is ready for some new blood.

So now with a second album, titled Reframe (not sure if hes trying to be smart or just couldnt think of anything better), a (very pink) computer animated video, and plans for lots of touring, Rabbit Junk are set to take over a sparsely populated part of the rock underground. Be sure to give him the finger for me when you see him. But be nice to Sum Grrl, shes a sweetie.

-Mit Shinken aka Bradly Wolford

and btw, if you dont like my Rabbit Junk Bio, you can fucking blow me (that means you JP)

they slash straight through what passes for industrial music these days. 9/10
-- METAL HAMMER MAGAZINE, February 2005

the sound is really hard and furious, like enraged rabbits This band will for sure find an audience
-- SIDE-LINE, April 2005

it's a high dosage mixture of everything from jungle to industrial to hip hop and electronicayou definitely won't be standing around doing nothing when listening to this album!
-- SPACE JUNKIES MAGAZINE, April 2005

it's diverse and brutal, but it's melodic and packed with emotion as well. I highly recommend picking this album up.
-- WETWORKS E-ZINE, March 2005