AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #368: THE BUG CLUB

A GUEST POST by THE ROBSTER

IS THIS THE MUSIC YOU LIKE?
The Bug Club

an Imaginary Compilation for the (new) vinyl villain
(with a bit of a gig review thrown in for good measure)

Imagine one of your favourite local bands. They have been getting national acclaim and have acquired a large cult following over the few short years of their existence, gaining coveted airplay and live sessions on BBC radio, including 6 Music. They’ve released 10 singles, two albums (one of them an ambitious double), two EPs, three things nobody knew how to describe, and a live album of exclusive material under a different band name, all since 2021, and while playing 200+ gigs a year.

The local shows sell out almost instantly, including in such spaces as Clwb Ifor Bach which regularly hosts shows for some of the brightest emerging talents on the international circuit, while further afield they present a very attractive live proposition, both as a headliner and a support act.

Now imagine them playing in the corner of a tiny function room above a pub for an audience of no more than 50 people, much like they would have done when they first formed. That, my friends, is The Bug Club.

MrsRobster and I were delighted to have caught them on the last Bank Holiday at the City Arms in Cardiff, where they played not one, but TWO shows to the lucky few who managed to get tickets. We caught their evening set (they had also played a few hours earlier, late afternoon).

For the uninitiated, The Bug Club hail from the historic Welsh market town of Caldicot, located between Chepstow and Newport. (Apparently, the man who invented self-raising flour was born there…) They consist of Sam Wilmett (vocals/guitar) and Tilly Harris (vocals/bass) along with whoever they can find to play drums with them at the moment (founder member Dan Matthew recently left the fold). Their mate Helen filled in for the Bank Holiday shows, and dead good she was too.

The thing about The Bug Club is they don’t hang about. Their songs are short, they play them with real vigour and energy, and they don’t spend much time yakking (though when they do, it’s usually Tilly making us laugh). It’s just one blast after another – bam-bam-bam! A Bug Club show is a lot of fun. They came on about 8:15 and were all done by 9:30 – it wasn’t even fully dark outside – but MrsRobster and I felt we’d had a proper night out.

The set covered the full gamut of their catalogue, featuring tracks from all their releases to date, including the set-closer, current single Quality Pints, a song about finding the best beer in whichever town they happen to be playing in. Yeah, they don’t take themselves too seriously, with subject matters ranging from birds to haircuts, from being in space to swearing in love songs, from hiding your real feelings from your mum to getting married. Tonight’s set was sprinkled liberally with their customary sardonic humour and loud, garagey guitars in the style of the Velvet Underground, Jonathan Richman, Pavement and Kim Deal. But it’s the songs that make The Bug Club what they are, and so, inspired by this show, I decided to sit down and do what I’d intended to do for some time – compile, write and submit an ICA for this wonderful internetty space that I kind of think of as something of a second home. OK, maybe a third home. JC’s published all sorts of nonsense from me over the years, so I figure another one won’t hurt.

I should point out that I’ve tended to go for the faster, more lively side of The Bug Club in this set as it’s more akin to one of their live shows. If you want depth, I suggest you buy all their records and compile your own Bug Club ICA of slower songs. Good luck though, they don’t do many of those. I’ve even broken the 10-tracks rule and included a full dozen for your enjoyment, and even then some of my personal faves (Can Ya Change A Thing Like This?, A Love Song, It’s Art) have had to be left out. It still weighs in at a mere 30 minutes, but there’s not a second wasted here. So let’s get going…

SIDE ONE

1. Is This The Music You Like? [2023, from ‘Rare Birds’]

This is nothing more than a silly punk song that does everything it needs to in less than 60 seconds, drops the mic and leaves the stage. Job done. Next!

2. My Baby Loves Rock ‘n’ Roll Music [2021, from ‘Pure Particles’ EP]

If you wanted to hear the Jonathan Richman and Velvet Underground influences in full effect, then look no further. Not just a live favourite this one, but a proper fan fave too. You WILL catch yourself humming it at the bus stop, down in the Tube station at midnight, in the queue at your favourite bakery or while desperately searching for something to rid yourself of that bloody earworm TheRobster posted at JC’s in his Bug Club ICA!

3. Marriage [2023, from ‘Rare Birds’]

How many words can you think of that rhyme with marriage? The Bug Club come up with precisely two. Have they never heard of Steve Claridge? [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Claridge]

4. Pick Me Like A Flower In The Rain [2022, from ‘Intelectuals’ EP]

‘Intelectuals’ (sic) is one of those aforementioned releases that “nobody knew how to describe”. Two tracks are listed: Intelectuals and Intelectuals [money version]. The former is actually five songs performed live in the studio in a single take, back to back as they would perform them in concert, and in the order they were written. One of them is the title track and another is this delightful tune which is another crowd favourite. I was surprised how many people sang along to this one at the show.

5. We Don’t Need Room For Lovin’ [2021, debut single, from ‘Launching Moonbeam 1’ EP]

Five years after first forming (no doubt hampered by that COVID thing everyone has forgotten about), The Bug Club released their first single. Mark Riley played it lots on his 6 Music show. Thus, it set the template for all the shenanigans that followed.

6. Out In The Streets [2023, single]

Between albums 1 and 2 came this single. I previously posted it in a piece over at my place a year ago to all-round general malaise. It’s worth another outing though. It also appears on side two of a 12” called ‘Picture This!’, another of those multi-song pieces like ‘Intelectuals’.

SIDE TWO

1. Only In Love [2022, from ‘Green Dream In F#’]

The opening track of the debut album, and it’s another one that flows in the same valley as the Velvets and is done and dusted before you can dig out your copy of ‘Loaded’.

2. Intelectuals [money version] [2022, from ‘Intelectuals’ EP]

The ‘proper’ studio version of the ‘Intelectuals’ title track which the band refers to as “a single of sorts”.

3. The Fixer [2021, from ‘Pure Particles’ EP]

This is the one that’s going round and round in my head as I type this. I never get sick of it, for some reason. If I did though, I wonder if the Fixer could fix it? I love the whole of ‘Pure Particles’ I have to say. They call it an EP, but it’s got 9 songs on it, so it’s more of a mini-album really. Mini as it’s only 20 minutes long, but quality over quantity, right?

4. Yesterday’s Paper [2022, from ‘Green Dream In F#’]

Which is probably why this track gives up the ghost after 56 seconds. No point drawing things out for the sake of it, is there?

5. Clapping In Time [2023, from ‘Mr Anyway’s Holey Spirits Perform! One Foot In Bethlehem’]

The record label writes: “In January and February 2023 The Bug Club toured around Independent Venue Week, and were supported by a mysterious band called Mr Anyway’s Holey Spirits. We knew absolutely nothing about this band, but we were crafty enough to have somebody record the gigs on a cassette machine and we are now putting it out without them knowing. Some people sign bands and write up fair contracts; we just keep a cricket bat close to hand in case somebody comes looking for us. Luckily it turned out they were just The Bug Club in disguise. These tracks will never be recorded or released again. They might not be played again, either.” Well, they played Clapping In Time at the City Arms, so…

6. Rare Birds [2023, from ‘Rare Birds’]

The Bug Club’s second album was an adventurous double album their label dubbed “The Bug Club’s Hex Enduction Hour. South Wales’ Double Nickels On The Dime. It’s The Faust Cycle for people with shorter attention spans.” Containing 24 songs with 23 spoken word interludes, it’s like The Small Faces had Ivor Cutler round for tea and cake. Or something. Actually, nothing like that at all, but you get my drift. You don’t? Never mind. This is the title track, in which Sam and Tilly exchange English and Latin names of some rare birds. So it’s kind of like exactly what it says it is. Get it now?

The day after our Bug Club encounter, the band was supposed to be embarking on a tour supporting the legendary Shellac. Sadly, as you all know, the great Steve Albini passed away suddenly a few weeks before, meaning the tour was cancelled. Such a shame, that would have been one hell of a bill. (For what it’s worth, I’m still in mourning for Steve. MrsRobster and I enjoyed the new Shellac record ‘To All Trains’ turned up VERY LOUD in the car last weekend.)

The Bug Club are, however, playing dates in Spain in June, festival dates in July and there’s a UK tour in November (though lookout for one-offs in London and Edinburgh as well). All their stuff is on Bandcamp [https://thebugclub.bandcamp.com], and while on a US tour earlier in the year, they signed to Sub Pop, their first track for the seminal label being Quality Pints, included here as a bonus: [https://youtu.be/WwYLt4WGOqE?si=dZM6soZy_Pio3WSp]

The Robster