The most delectable thing about ‘Pure Particles’ is it sounds as if The Bug Club have recorded their album with a cheap microphone and cassette machine, so lo-fi that it has been designed to sound best played through an old transistor radio. The second most delectable thing is the entire 9 song mini album is dusted and done in under 20 minutes, no drawn out and long guitar wankery here, ‘Pure Particles’ made up of pure, short and snappy pop songs, not unlike Moldy Peaches if they came from Caldicott, Monmouthshire instead of NYC.
Guitarist Sam Willmet and bassist Tilly Harris provide the garage rock duets and pepper their music with quick-witted accounts of daily humdrum life. Within those short 20 minutes, along with drummer Dan Matthew, they bring us a Velvet Underground inspired ‘My Baby Loves Rock’n’Roll Music’ (i.e the song. Possibly the genre too, but specifically the song), the only track to ever quote M-People’s ‘Proud’ alongside a skiffle solo in ‘Vegetable Garden’, a mix of raw speed-paced deadpan-punk in ‘The Fixer’ and light-hearted existentialism in ‘Pure Particles’, ‘If My Mother Thinks I’m Happy’ is an immense impression of Jonathan Richmond having a go at playing Squeeze and ‘A Love Song’ takes the time to mock Bob Dylan while also answering the question “How many times can you say fuck in a love song?” – you’ll have to give them a listen to get the answer. To bring the listener back down after a few minutes of high adrenaline, The Bug Club are wise enough to bring the LP to it’s terminus with a lullaby instrumental of the album’s title track.
‘Pure Particles’ has been out since 12th November 2021 on Bingo Records. The Bug Club have played a couple sessions with Marc Riley on BBC 6 Music and are going to be touring loads in the new year. Head over to their bandcamp now to find out all you need to know about them and if you want to buy some stuff I’m sure they’d be chuffed.
Edge of Arcady 