Picture This! by The Bug Club
BINGO043downonyourknees
**A VINYL VERSION OF THIS WILL GO ON SALE ON APRIL 7 (A BANDCAMP FRIDAY)**
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Hot on the heels of a brief identity crisis that saw the band don capes and support themselves on tour as Mr Anyway's Holey Spirits (glad we got to the bottom of that), The Bug Club return with another indefinable release.
In the exstreamly (geddit?) stupid tradition of 2022's Intelectuals, we’re not really sure how many songs are on Picture This! The a-side of the picture disc (designed by Bingo Records labelmate Mr Ben) contains the title track and maybe some others? Or maybe it’s all one thing. I don’t know, and I expect I’m soon to be relieved of my PR duties. One thing I do know is that the b-side bears the single 'Out In The Streets'.
Is it an EP? A single? A tongue-in-cheek two fingers to Daniel Ek by a group of remarkably witty artistic martyrs? Well, a picture famously speaks quite a few words, so a picture is what we'll call it. It's a good job the schmucks at Bingo Records don't have a clue what they're doing, otherwise somebody might have said something. It's a race to the bottom over there - maybe they think that's where the pennies sink to.
‘Out In The Streets’ sees The Bug Club take their usual formula of witty, observational lyrics, driving rhythm section and a no-nonsense approach to guitar shredding and expand on it. Longer than a typical Bug Club tune, and with a Wurlitzer thrown in there (which is as close to orchestral as this garage rock trio are likely to get), ‘Out In The Streets’ is this much-loved cult band at their sardonic storytelling best.
The title ‘track’ comes in a few sections, linked together just like they would be performed live - because that’s what happened in the studio, too. The first tune puts bassist and vocalist Tilly Harris up front for prolonged periods of lead vocal, contrasting usual frontman Sam Willmett’s laid back drawl with something brattier - in a good way. The second portion is the band at their most frantic, and ‘Picture This!’ ends with something softer.
Picture This! kicks off what is undoubtedly The Bug Club’s busiest year to date, and that’s saying something. With five releases over two years filled with triple-digit gig calendars, the band are sticking to the formula with three 2023 records on the horizon and their first US shows. And the sellout records and shows prove there is the demand: dates at London’s The Scala in late 2022 were the band’s biggest so far.
Out In The Streets is to be released by Bingo Records on April 3. The Picture This! picture disc will be released shortly afterwards. The North American release will be handled by We Are Busy Bodies.
Tracklist
| 1. | Picture This! | 7:56 |
| 2. | Out In The Streets | 4:10 |
Credits
Sam, Tilly and Dan doing what they always do.
Tom and Eddie also resuming usual duties.
Likewise Ben - it's a fucking clique, isn't it.
