By Darwin Fernandez
More than the weird costumes, coupled with the indie-band members’ signature long-tresses, Benny Bunny Band has come a long way from one-night gigs and invites.
From their lyrics to instruments, down to their performances, it’s hard to think of a band similar to the trio of Benny Giron (ukulele), Ess Bobadilla (bass) and Jhenico dela Cruz (drums). Their unconventional stage presence has fans branding the trio’s genre as “kuneho rock.”
Building on their name, humor and entertainment in their performances, they have launched a second EP with an actual title that needs a separate paragraph.
It’s somewhat of a mix of old school funk and modern rock. The songs are fast, then alternates to mellow, with subtle punchlines in between. They will make listeners laugh, but there›s more to their lyricism than just green jokes and witty metaphors.
Whatever comprises “kuneho rock” is reiterated in their second recording launched on April 16 entitled: “Feel Free To Face Your Inner Demons, Because No One Can Help You But Yourself; Stop Promoting This Mental Disorder As If You Knew How It Is Or How It Really Is Like To Have One; Don’t You Dare Make Fun Of It; Alas, Be Responsible For Your Own Sake And Others As They Have Things In Their Own Thinking, Judgement, Culture, Sense, Self, Consciousness, Imagination, Perception, And Memory That May Or May Not Include The Importance Of What Really Is True Or Not To Themselves Or Ourselves As They Are Their Own Path-Makers: Gifted With Free Will And Free Choice And The Power To Rule The World By Just Making The Power Manifested Upon Varieties Of Lines Joined, Not Joined, And Vibrations, And The Lack Of Vibrations, Which Conveys a Thought On How a Universal Meaning Devoid Of Language Barriers Can Be Understood By All Forms And Lack Of Forms, Inside Or Even Outside Our System For Which That Is The Only Way The Meaning One Is Seeking Can Be Found And Lost At The Same Time For Nothing In This Universe Is So True And False At The Same Time As Nothing Itself, For There Will Always Be Something In You That Will Make Sense Of Things That Will Pull You Out Of The Gutter, And Into The Ocean Or Stars Because All The Things We Own Are Just Borrowed From The Universe, Or Someone, Or There Are Those Who Are Controlling Us And Just Playing Us Around Like An Operated Simulated Game, Or Maze, Or Something Non-Linear; Hello There, Whoever You Are, Listen To Me, Listen To Me, Listen To Me, Oh; Hi, Mark!”
The very verbose title is inscribed on the EP cover art. For brevity’s sake, the large letters “FFF,” initials of the first words of the title, hints of the album’s shorter name.
The songs inside the EP speak a lot of the material the Bunnies perform live, such as ”Forbidden Song No. 2 Kamandag,” and ”Forbidden Song No.1 Sayo Lang Titi…” and some new material with the same experimental, signature rabbit-swag, especially in vocals.
For more “kuneho rock,” follow the “Bunnies” on Facebook: @bennybunnyband and download the full EP on Apple Music and Spotify.