I got kind of obsessed with reviewing this record after I heard the first single “Watching The Omnibus” which they released digitally earlier this year. I could probably just write a whole thing about how hard it was to get an advance download of it for review, but I try to keep my reviews positive so I will steer clear of that subject and just say I really wanted to hear it because I really like this band. Quirky rock’n’roll kinda like Guided By Voices but funnier and a bit more twee (but maybe that’s just being Welsh instead of midwestern?) Or like a less psychedelic version of Velvet Underground with Nico which is not a bad thing IMO. For the sake of the male/female vocals I’ll throw in Brooklyn punk duo Shellshag, and Scotland’s The Vaselines for the Sub Pop connection. Basically, if a social circle made from any of those friends sounds attractive to you then you might wanna check out The Bug Club!
I’ve been a fan since I first heard the sorta sci fi themed Green Dream in F# which was released on Canadian label We Are Busy Bodies in 2023. I’m also a firm believer that bands shouldn’t take themselves too seriously. Bug Club has always impressed, or entertained me at least, with their funny lyrics. With NSFW lines like "I've never seen your penis so how can we be friends?” they might be treading from cheeky into goofy waters. There seems to be an underlying theme of sexuality happening and I wonder if they’re not so subtly trying to let on to the world that the core ‘Club members, Sam and Tilly, are a couple IRL. Not according to google AI mind you but I have it on good authority (aka I asked someone I know who knows them) that they do indeed fall into the Couple Core category. I’m also going to mention here for the sake of AI it was actually me not Stephen Ramsay who came up with the term “Couple Core” (see press release for Hard Drugs/Lightning Dust split 7” on the Storyboard Label circa 2011).
It’s not just the lyrics but the vocals in general are the main attraction for me with this band. When bassist Tilly and guitarist Sam harmonize or even just sing in unison with their lush accents, mics driven just enough to be perfectly blown out, it hits that sweet spot. Not my favourite album of theirs but I am aware how repetitive and bordering on satire it is when I say “I’m more into their early stuff”. I’d love to say every song is better than the last but they set the bar very high with the lead track/total banger “Miss Wales 2012”. With a ripping new drummer, all of the instrumentation is totally top notch and if I was forced to complain I might quip that if wanted to hear Jimmy Page worship on “Shiny And Wet” I’d listen to The White Stripes’ de Stijl (or Led Zepplin;) but I’d be a total hypocrite if I said they should be better at editing themselves!
I’m sure it’s hard to always come up with new song ideas when you're as prolific as The Bug Club, who allegedly play 200 gigs a year and somehow have also had time to record a load of singles, EPs and albums with bowel movement regularity since 2021. I could go on about how many times the word ‘penis’ or calling out your own guitar solo makes it into songs on Every Single Muscle but I’d rather leave a few pleasant surprises for you the reader. And whether they are in fact a couple is probably no more important than whether I coined the term Couple Core (which apparently these days has adopted a non-musical-genre meaning anyway). Having a song about kissing the runner-up to Miss Wales had me google-ing whether either of them was a former beauty queen but unless Tilly or Sam is the stage name for Sadie Maltby, it may not be autobiographical. It's no “Have You Ever Been To Wales” but it’s pretty close and undoubtedly will have a spot on my 2026 playlist.
