Imagine a world in which The White Stripes were “evil,” couldn’t write a song in 4/4, and were actually brother and sister. This alternate reality exists in Michigan’s remote upper peninsula, where siblings Gretchen and Dawson McKenzie—better known as Bimbo—live, work, and play, making experimental art rock free from constraints.
“I live off-grid in the woods, so I spend a lot of time alone and awed by nature. I feel very raw a lot of the time,” Gretchen explains. “Have you ever shit outside in a blizzard? Very raw, very real.”
Debut LP The Bimbonacci Sequence presents a simple enough formula: equal parts freedom and fun. But there’s a natural inclination toward complexity. “With the drums, I aim to find grooves in odd meters and build textures in interesting ways,” says Dawson, whose intricate polyrhythms anchor the record’s remarkable eccentricity. “Our main goal is always to write something that will be fun for us to play.”
As a result, The Bimbonacci Sequence features minimal production, emblematic of the band’s explosive live shows. Drawing inspiration from the “intense joy” of rock bands like Metz, The Stooges, The Cramps, and Krill, the Bimbo experience offers elastic riffs, big hooks, and powerful vocal melodies that build from eerie tension to rage-fueled rants. Fitting of the current climate, guitarist and songwriter Gretchen crafts ruthlessly self-aware lyrics that blend crude humor with biting social critique: “I feel like this album is me reading my journal and screaming.”
The record opens with lead single “Things Just Keep Getting Worse,” a rumination on compounding fears over jerking, crunching guitar. With its hypnotic drum beat and unnerving post-punk atmosphere, “Chewing Glass” weighs the futility of ethical consumption under capitalism. “Sick Moves” serves up a Nate Smith-inspired dance groove, and a “nasty girl” persona via Gretchen’s shrieks and squeals: “I want to pick the gum off the bottom of a table and eat it and make everyone watch,” she says of the track’s perverse vibe.
Bimbo describe their local Marquette music scene as “small and energetic, yet insular,” due to its isolation (the closest major city is hours away). “We’re kind of just free,” explains Dawson. “So we get to make weird stuff in the woods.” The Bimbonacci Sequence smartly explores these opposing forces: solitude vs. connection, hedonism vs. righteousness, anxiety vs. ease. But ultimately, “the Bimbo ethos,” according to Gretchen, is about community. “I want to make a room full of people dance and sing with us.” Welcome to a world all their own.
Bio: Loren DiBlasi
Photo: Trenton Davis
