Unless you’re a big established band album release concerts must be a scary affair. You’ve worked hard on your debut. It’s cost a lot of money and effort to make. These are the best songs you’ve ever written… but will anyone like them? Should I book a big hall to show my potential? What if hardly anyone comes? All questions that must have whirled round in the minds of the band this week as they prepared for their show at Veedel Club in Cologne. By the shows start I couldn’t see any room at the back, indeed couldn’t even get from the front to the back of the hall since it was so packed. A triumph then for Richard Münchhoff, Leon Mucke and Sebastian Perez aka Munchy Bunch
Area South is an alternative metal band from Bonn that has been making a name for itself on stages in the city and the surrounding region for several years now. A five-piece alternative metal band that has been performing on virtually every stage in and around Bonn, winning over audiences with an energetic live presence. Musically, the band draws on a range of influences — including Deftones, Tool, Slipknot, and Zeal and Ardor — while finding their own distinctive sound each time.
I can certainly vouch for that energy. In particular the sweat dripping from lead singer Sebastian Grube’s forehead was proof of the effort these guys were putting in. The band’s range of influences gives them an interesting sound, with definite undertones of pop-punk and a smidgeon of Reggae in there too. It makes for a somewhat rough, disoriented sound at times – not helped by the rooms acoustics and the amps being set to overdrive when at times less volume would have meant more. Lots of distorted fuzz tones/feedback. There are definitely some good songs in there though that a better mix would bring out and certainly no-one could fault them for effort. A young band with a bright future for sure.
What can I say about Munchy Bunch? The brainchild of Jazz drummer Richard Münchhoff. If you’ve ever met Richard then you will know he has an infectious enthusiasm for new things. He is certainly not one for following one of his own heroes and ‘doing a Phil Collins’, that is to say, by sitting at the drums and singing. Richard then had to set about finding someone else to take over that drum stool so that he himself could take over singing and main guitar duties. He made a pretty good choice in Leon Mucke who has also had drumming duties with Henrik Freischlader. Add also the bass of another Freischlader musician Sebastian Perez and the fundament is good. It’s almost a year to the date since I saw the trio at RPZ in Bad Godesberg and I’m pleased to say that the band has really found its feet since then.
The trio’s debut release takes pride of place on the merchandise table when I arrive. Only available at present physically as a vinyl disc though. Strange that the young generation seems to have abandoned CD’s in favour of those black slices of plastic that warp if you leave them near a radiator. Call me old-fashione (I know you want to!) but I come from a generation that was told CD’s had superior sound… Young Richard nods in understanding when I point this out. CD’s will be available. For any older fans I guess.
But anyway, we’re not here to hear how those songs sound on vinyl, we want to hear them on a stage. The MB website even promises “the real magic happens live. Munchy Bunch hit you where it counts — and their energy is unstoppable”. They will have a lot to do if they are going to outdo the energy of the previous band, but Richard, as always, looks unruffled as he steps up and straps on his white guitar with its suitable lightning symbols emblazoned each side of the pick-ups. Let the energy begin!
The trio run through all the tracks from the new disc of course, and from the off have a punchier, more direct sound than Area South. Intriguing is that they reference Foo Fighters and Phil Collins as influences rather than power trios but if I think about it – where are the power trios of Rock in modern music? I’m thinking as I watch and listen of bands like Cream and Taste. It takes a very special level of technique for one man to cover lead and rythm guitar without a keyboard to fill in the sound. Richard is a multi-instrumentalist but no Clapton or Gallagher, so I enjoy the band’s power but I miss that extra layer of finesse that comes from a melody line covered by a guitar solo. I’m sure it’s easy to remedy in the studio by adding extra guitar, but onstage I feel there’s an element, a melody layer, missing. The icing on the cake. It gets added later in the show as you will find…
The band do have some excellent material to draw from on their debut disc though. ‘One more time’ certainly has Foo Fighters DNA in its creation. Forget the comic video of this track – it’s actually a serious song. As Richard pointed out during the show – it’s strange to hear the finished material months after the songs were written. Going back in time to his feelings at the time. ‘Storm’ works well live with its vitriolic vocal almost spat out by Richard. Heavy vibes reminiscent of Led Zeppelin here and my favourite track purely by name also went down well: ‘Did we fuck up?.
It would be unfair to talk too much about the music since I don’t have it to hand until the CD arrives but clearly Richard has not just some excellent tunes for you to hear but also adds excellent songwriter to his long list of musical accomplishments. Like the aforementioned Mr Freischlader, this is one man who can seemingly do it all. Munchy Bunch though is a band built up of friendships as well as musical talent. The band name in itself suggests something between The Monkees and The Banana Splits. It’s all about having fun, which they clearly do onstage and the packed Veedel Club audience clearly does too – happily sinking to its knees on command to jump up again when Richard asks them to. Add charismatic frontman to that list of attributes…
I mentioned wishing there was an extra layer to the music at times, particularly to add more dynamics. Enter Marlee… her arrival onstage beefs up the guitar sound and the melody excellently. The lady certainly should know a thing or two about filling out the sound onstage – Marlee King is the daughter of Level 42 bassman Mark, and has even appeared onstage with the band at London’s Royal Albert Hall (she also has some excellent Prog-Folk Rock material of her own I discovered later online). This evening she joins the band on some tracks that appear on a mini cd made with Richard and excellent they are too. ‘Start Again’ is an excellent number that builds, explodes, and does it all over again with bags of power and dynamics. ‘Thanks Goodnight’ was probably the stand-out number live this sweaty evening with its twin guitar power really hitting between the ears. My favourite riff of the evening in fact.
It’s been a hot, a sweaty, and a great night of music played in a small club venue. A reminder that such pubs and clubs are where the future of Pop and Rock music is to be found. Moral of the story: When you need some energy and good vibes, just plug in to Munchy Bunch.
