Uncle Bonsai

Three alumni of Bennington College—Andrew Ratshin, Ashley Kristen, and Arni Adler—launched Uncle Bonsai in Seattle during 1981, channeling a playful yet provocative sensibility into their performances. The guitar-driven trio delivered three-part vocal harmonies on material such as “Penis Envy” and “Cheerleaders on Drugs,” contrasting the irreverent lyrics with sweetly innocent voices. Over their first eight years the group issued three albums—A Lonely Grain of Corn, Boys Wants Sex in the Morning, and Myn Ynd Wymyn—the final two captured live—and built a devoted local following through grassroots performances across the city. When a promising record contract collapsed in 1988, the band went on hiatus; Ratshin then recorded solo under the Electric Bonsai Band moniker, releasing the four LPs I Am Joe’s Eyes, But I’m Happy Now, Lounging in the Belly of the Beast, and 20 Seconds of Pleasure across the subsequent decade.

The original lineup reconvened in 1998 and documented a concert that appeared the next year as Doug. Also in 1999 they completed the studio set Plain Brown Wrapper, followed in 2001 by the live album Apology. After another break, Kristen departed in 2007; Patrice O’Neill, already performing with Ratshin in the Mel Cooleys, stepped in as her replacement. The revised trio issued The Grim Parade, mixing live and studio tracks, in November 2010. Intermittent activity continued, culminating in the 2017 release The Family Feast.