Everyone who follows rock music a bit more closely is surely familiar with Jennifer Herrema’s name, as she was instrumental in such trailblazing bands that were both Royal Trux and RTX. At some point, actually back in 2011, Herrema and RTX members decided to disband. Well, not really, as Herrema and other band members decided just to change the name of the band into Black Bananas.
Well, that name change maybe worked musically, as both previous releases under that name, Rad Time Express IV (2011), and Electric Brick Wall (2016), maybe had traction with hardcore fans, but seemingly went almost unnoticed among the critics and reviewers. Whatever went on in the meantime, it took practically 10 years for Herrema and her crew to come up with something new, and that new became Black Bananas’ new album Bad Bunch.
Changes? Well, both yes and no. Yes, as Black Bananas keep that modern rock flag flying, absorbing along the way all the new traits rock and other genres have brought us in the meantime, from new synth-pop trends and modern funk to elsewhere.
No, there is too, as that hard-pumping psych rock is still omnipresent, and more importantly, Herrema’s and the band’s trend to be trend-setters and innovators, as they have incorporated all these new diverse elements into another set of rock, just switched on to making all this ‘new’ sound completely different. Again. This bunch may be ‘bad’, but it is great and tasty at the same time.
