The album's 1999 press kit by Warner Bros. Records states, California explores an ambiance new to the band, conjuring up the surly dance moves of Cyd Charisse and Fred Astaire; digging through the graveyard of riffs to find English pop, Elvis, Neil Diamond and Michael Jackson.

"[7] To support the album, Mr. Bungle embarked on a large scale tour covering North America, Europe and Australia.

"[14] At the Myrtle Beach show, Mike Patton simulated giving his microphone a blow-job in an attempt to trigger the crowd, which angered them so much that they started throwing coins and other objects at his band.

[15] The members of Incubus and System of a Down were supportive of Mr. Bungle when they were met with harsh audiences, and cheered on Patton when he got into confrontations with the crowds.

Following the album release date conflict, Red Hot Chili Peppers vocalist Anthony Kiedis had Mr. Bungle removed from a series of summer festivals in Europe.

"[20] As a result of the concert removals, Mr. Bungle parodied the Red Hot Chili Peppers on Halloween 1999, in Pontiac, Michigan (the home state of Kiedis).

[21] Regarding the Halloween show, Trey Spruance said, "It was pretty weird, having been fans of the first two RHCP albums, realizing that somehow something personal had gone amiss somewhere.

So amiss that a decade and a half after we’d liked this now hugely popular band’s music (and hadn't thought much about since), we'd be dealing with the fact that they were unmistakably trying to bury us.

"[22] Dunn reflected "We had a member of the tour crew buy the most recent album of them (Californication) and then we proceeded to learn it in the back of the stage before the show.

"[23] Kiedis responded to the Halloween parody by having Mr. Bungle removed from the 2000 Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand.

[24] Patton went on to claim that Kiedis' actions had "ruined" Mr. Bungle's career during a 2001 interview,[25] while Trevor Dunn remarked, "It really screwed us up.

[26][better source needed] On his personal website, Dunn later wrote, "Everything you've ever heard about the Red Hot Chile Poppers [sic] screwing us is true.

"[14] On previous tours, Mr. Bungle were known for their characteristically unconventional stage shows, where the band members would dress up in costumes and masks.

A positive review came from Pitchfork, who called it "one of those albums that you can't believe a major label had anything to do with", writing, "the more I listen to California, the more I'm convinced that Mike Patton is really the devil on holiday.

"[31] Steve Huey of AllMusic similarly remarked that the album "[will] make you marvel at the fact that such a defiantly odd, uncommercial band recorded for Warner Bros."[1] In 2017, Canadian site Exclaim!

cited it as an essential album in Mike Patton's career discography, claiming "California maintained the strange stylings that Mr. Bungle fans had come to love by that point, but remains beautiful and melodic to this day.

[34] The 2005 single "Unretrofied" (from the album Miss Machine) by the Dillinger Escape Plan, who toured with Mr. Bungle in 1999, was inspired by the feelings that the song "Retrovertigo" evoked in guitarist Ben Weinman after listening to it every night.