Bönkers

It’s been a long time coming
David Crosby’s punchline from 1969 could never have been more fitting. After a ten year hiatus Bönkers are ready with their long-awaited second album – Time to Harvest. (2009).
Verdens Gang, Norway’s biggest newspaper, praises the album, insisting that Bönkers is “just as good and timeless ten years after their debut”, and labelling the band as “one of the country’s best kept secrets”.
Bönkers was formed in 1995, inspired by the best of vintage American rock and leading alt. country bands such as The Jayhawks, Uncle Tupelo and Wilco. On their first release Rusty Tubes (EP,1997), Bönkers had already developed their own distinctive style, with overdriven guitars and insisting steel guitar licks surrounding Gaute Öien's characteristic lead vocal.
On their full-length debut Opp (1999), produced by former Wilco-steel guitarist Bob Egan, the band went for a more refined sound, developing their melodies to another level. The album was enthusiastically received in all the major newspapers in Norway, and the band was invited to play at the NXNW festival in Portland, Oregon. Since then little has been heard from them.
Conscientiously crafting new songs and bringing up children enough for a new big band, Bönkers have kept a low profile in the ten years following their critically acclaimed album. Led by multi-instrumentalist Øien, a true perfectionist, the long awaited release shows a band that have welded the rough edginess of their first effort with the sophistication and strong melodic sense of Opp. The record is dense with lush vocal harmonies and weaving guitars, steel guitars and keyboards. The band's growing interest in their own Norwegian folk music heritage is also noticeable, with fiddles and accordions blending in nicely. It is a mighty fine album that proves that, after all, it’s been worth the wait.
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