Mr Bonx - the music, reviews and experience, guitarist, vocals and author of short stories.

Reviews of Mr Bonx Albums

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Rough with the Smooth - Nick Van Edee.
“The Rough with the Smooth” is a ten year anthology of the various incarnations of Mrbonx. He winks at you from an irreverent, politically incorrect world of sweaty lust, 6 packs and sex toys… but never accuse him of wanting to please all.
He sums up his take me or leave me one-fingered salute to his critics in “SOME PEOPLE”…”well I don’t mind……ain’t it plain to see….some people, you don’t bother me.!!

He has always surrounded himself with tasty musicians and the raw energy and attitude they always contribute on this collection gives the material an infectious feel….Mrbonx plays tasty guitar:
But never flash.

From the opening three-chord-trick of “I need you”, to the scruffy reggae of “Love Games” you are literally pulled into his world….we may not be comfortable there, but that’s exactly his aim. From the obvious “we adjusted our cloths as she walked back to her till” from “Girl in the garage” to the bizarre “eyes of Aphrodite’s and a tub of superlube” you get the message loud and
clear!!

This album has all kinds of influences.. Many of them musical too.
“Nice and easy” smells of chilli peppers: the albums highlight is the towering “Pump it up” which borrows much from THE JAM at their best and there are little nods of the head to stiff little fingers, David Lee Roth and even Spencer Davis……and who gives a fuck????....Mrbonx sure doesn’t.!!!!!

Nick Van Edee.

Heavy rock with a soft centre- Never mind the ballads - Jeremery King

With a mixture of influences bring a unique blend of rock and funk, town musician Mr Bonx’s first offering should entertain many audiences and age groups.
The debut album, to be released on September 1 and appropriately titled The Rough with the Smooth, has been written by Mr Bonx, alias Andrew Trigwell. It took 18 months to complete with three different drummers; all form Sussex, involved in making the record.
The first half of the album, the smoother half, incorporates up-tempo funky beats with soft rock, similar to the late 80’s music from Bon Jovi and Def Leppard. The second half…yes.. The rougher half boasts heavy rock, nearer the style of Guns n Roses.
An intelligent record, The Rough with the Smooth surprises just as you begin to get a feel for MrBonx’s style of music. The best examples of this are emotive track 5called Goodbye Johnny, a slow ballad which shocks after the up-tempo rock which starts the album. And the instrumental which ends the album on a mellow note. And lyrics bounce back and forth from humorous to tragic to raunchy and back to humorous.
The album will be released on Friday September 1 and is available exclusively from Jingles record store, in railway approach East Grinstead.
The East Grinstead based songwriter will be at the store to sign copies and chat to visitors in the shop from 11am to 2pm that day.

Jeremery King

Never mind the ballads - Sir Russell Long.
PROFILE: Musician Mr Bonx.

Like some long-forgotten pit, Mr Bonx has been bubbling away just a few inches below the surface for longer than most of us can remember. My first contact was when I heard “Love Games” issuing forth from the cellar-sorry, rehearsal studio- of the now thankfully defunct 101 music club in downtown East Grinstead.
Actually, for a man living at the time in a converted outbuilding, he didn’t make a bad fist of it. Against my better judgment I ventured up the ill-lit stairs, stepping over bleary-eyed and vomit-encrusted students and had a look at the man himself. Thus was born a deeply mutual respect that at times extended as far as nodding in the street.
Longevity and integrity isn’t the missing Led Zeppelin album, but rather the terms on which I’m going to pin Bonx down whether he likes it or not. The latter is responsible for the former, since pleasure in performing his own music in his own style has always taken first place over a lust for glory, and “Nevermind the Ballads” is as good an illustration of this ethic as one could want.
Lighter and less laboured than much of his earlier work, the 11 original tracks on the album show a man completely at ease with himself. Personal without hopping on to the analyst’s couch. Fun without laughing to loudly. Somewhere between Bob Dylan and Al Stuart there is a niche aching to be filled.
General release versions of the album will doubtless be of a higher standard than the frankly promo copy that I got slipped into my pocket as I was forcibly ejected from his last live appearance.
Buy it if you get the chance and consider it money well spent. OK, so he bears a frightening resemblance to Danny from Withnail and I and the vocals are occasionally reminiscent of pre-hair loss Gordon Sumner( known to his pals as Sting ), but we can forgive this of a friend and that’s what Bonx if offering here- a mate who will have a pint with us and swap stories of the girls he’s known through the years without delving too deeply into the psychology of it all.
“Don’t let me down” is the high point of the album and, in my opinion, ought to be considered for release as a single. However there can’t be many adult males out there who won’t find a few shared thoughts in “a young woman’s song”-“she said” and “I can’t wait”. Don’t expect an insight into the male psyche girls, because it just isn’t there.
Some people say there is only one thing better than doing what you like, and that liking what you do. I reckon that’s what this album is all about.

Sir Russell Long.

Recorded Delivery… Rhythm magazine review.

Mr Trigwell not only takes the prize for the most ludicrous name of the month, but also registers pretty high on the “preposterous-voice-over-ever-intro” scale with one of the most ridiculous ever.
“You have a choice” he rambles in a voice from a cheap cinema ad over a sparse drum beat phased out of all proportion. “…You can turn me on. Whilst that might sound perversely crude, I can assure you with all good intentions that these acoustic, electric, rhythmic and sensual vibrations echoing around your system are purely intended for your enjoyment.”
After another ten minutes or so of this bilge he also reminds us that we can turn him off. Thanks for the tip Bonx, luckily for you I resisted the temptation.
When the tape gets properly going, there is little evidence of the strange mind of Mr Trigwell hinted at in his introduction. Instead we are treated to some very well crafted songs augmented by Bonx’s not entirely unpleasant vocals which sound…. Well, perhaps a bit unpleasantly like Jon Anderson of yes.
Thankfully nothing else does. The slight tendency towards whimsiness aside, Bonx and his supporting players manage to produce a tolerable noise. The songs aren’t particularly startling but oddly compelling: mainly, I think, by virtue of the care that has been invested in them.
It’s quite obvious that Bonx is very serious indeed about what he does and the structuring, dynamics and overall cohesiveness of his songs reflect this. He is also a talented musician who, despite playing most of the instruments on this album, avoids completely the temptation to let his ego run riot. Of the ten tracks presented here I couldn’t swear to hearing a guitar solo on any of them. And bearing in mind that the man is a classical/acoustic/electric/bass guitar player I count this as quite a feat of self restraint.
Basically: Well done Bonx, for not only failing to live up to the silly name but also for abandoning the rather self-conscious weirdness that might have been expected from the introduction. A very tidy album that will hopfully find a few friends where it matters.