Motobunny review on Innocent Words magazine |
"Motobunny, not to be confused with Motorhead, Motorhoney or Motorsister, is an energetic rock & roll band led by the dual vocal powerhouses Christa Collins and Nicole Laurrene. Not since Louise Post and Nina Gordon of Veruca Salt has there been such a remarkable pairing for lead singers.
Christa Collins has performed and recorded with Little Richard, and Sky Saxon, just to name a couple. She currently fronts LA garage act The Woolly Bandits; became an “X Factor USA” Top 8 finalist; and has appeared in several films. Nicole Laurenne was an award-winning classical pianist as a teen; has been named Arizona Republic’s “Best Frontperson”; and currently fronts both the Love Me Nots and electrofuzz duo Zero Zero.
Guitarist Michael Johnny Walker is on Phoenix New Times’ list of the Top 10 Phoenix Guitarists; founded and currently performs with The Love Me Nots; is featured in Fender Guitar’s “Soul of Tone” film with Dweezil Zappa; and both produces and performs with Zero Zero. Bassist Rik Collins has toured and recorded extensively with legendary garage rock act The Seeds before founding and performing with The Woolly Bandits.
For their self-titled debut, the quartet pulled out all the stops making their way to Detroit to record a dozen songs with Jim Diamond (White Stripes, Electric Six, Dirtbombs) and had the album mixed by Bob Hoag (The Format, Deer in The Headlights, Ataris), and mastered by Jason Livermore (Rise Against).
Everything Motobunny did to make this record has paid off in spades. It is fun, it is danceable and has songs filled with hooks which will bury themselves in your psyche and have you singing along without a care in the world. Their talent and experience pays off as well, as the band comes off remarkably tight for just their first album together while being very polished, thanks in part to the engineering crew.
At times Motobunny sound like a new wave ’80s band and will have your ass shaking with songs like “Let’s Go Out”; then they can get dark and sleazy on tracks like “Drown.” “Apocalypse Twist” is a balls-out rocker, and the album closer “I Warned You” is a heartbreak ballad of sorts. These are just a smattering of various sounds Motobunny brings you, and they make them all work very well together.
With band members having many irons in the fire, let’s hope Motobunny isn’t just a one-off project, because this debut album leaves you wanting more."