News from 2/2026

NEWS : TUE, FEB 3, 2026 at 7:00 AM

Hoopla, Weird Nightmare’s Stunning New Record Is Available Friday, May 1st

On Friday, May 1st, Weird Nightmare will release Hoopla, the engaging and melodic second LP from former METZ frontman Alex Edkins.
 
Every band worth its salt has a member who worked in a record store. In METZ, the fearless noise rock trio who released five full-length albums on Sub Pop between 2012 and 2024, it was singer and guitarist Alex Edkins. Slinging indie rock and hardcore records in his hometown record store while attending university, Edkins became an ardent student of rock ‘n’ roll; from the psychedelic 1960s to the DIY 1990s and beyond. The new Weird Nightmare album Hoopla, mixes and matches these wide-ranging influences in fun, exhilarating combinations, showcasing his sophisticated musical mind. Bursting to life with hooks and earworms.
 
Co-produced by Edkins and Spoon’s Jim Eno at Seth Manchester’s Machines With Magnets in Providence, RI. Edkins expands Weird Nightmare’s dimensions to new heights, gilding the direct emotions of his straightforward songwriting with musical textures such as piano, bells, and castanets, giving these well-wrought tunes a shiny luster.
 
Following the previously released single “Forever Elsewhere,” which Stereogum called “… an undeniably infectious power-pop anthem”, Weird Nightmare has shared an official video for their new song, “Might See You There,” which was directed by CC Mulligan.
 
Edkins shares about the track: “‘Might See You There’ is about going back to visit my hometown and being flooded with teenage nostalgia. Small-town boredom and isolation almost feel like a gift in today’s highly connected world. I feel fortunate for that time spent idly, down in the basement, learning the entire Rancid “Let’s Go” album on guitar with my friends. I find it easy to romanticise that time in my life, even though I was, without question, a disgruntled kid who badly wanted to escape my surroundings and see the world.
 
“I was listening to a lot of the Irish bands The Undertones and Protex while writing this one, and I think there is a fair bit of their influence. Just the simplicity and big bar chords mostly.
Seth Manchester and I were very into the idea of adding piano and bells to the outro, akin to the Phil Spector-produced “End of the Century” album by The Ramones. The great Julianna Riolino sings with me on the choruses, too!”
 
Weird Nightmare is also announcing North American, UK and European headline dates beginning on April 14th in San Diego, with festival appearances at the Soundscape NW Festival in Portland, on April 28th with labelmates Bully, and a 5-date Canadian run in June with Wintersleep. Additional live dates will be announced soon.

 

Fri. Apr. 24 -  San Diego, CA - Soda Bar
Sat. Apr. 25 - Los Angeles, CA - Gold Diggers ^
Sun. Apr. 26 - Oakland, CA - Thee Stork Club ^
Tue. Apr. 28 - Portland, OR - Soundscape NW Festival *
Wed. Apr. 29 -  Seattle, WA - Baba Yaga
Fri. May 01 - Toronto, ON - Sonic Boom in-store
Sun. May 03 -  Brantford, ON -  zBTFD in-store
Tue. May 12 - Kingston, ON - Broom Factory
Wed. May 13 - Montreal, PQ - Bar le Ritz
Sat. May 16 -  Halifax, NS - Marquee Ballroom #  
Wed. Jun. 17 -  London, ON - London Music Hall #
Thu. Jun. 18 - Hamilton, ON -  Bridgeworks #
Fri. Jun. 19 - Toronto, ON -  Masonic Temple #
Sat. Jun. 20 -  Ottawa, ON - The Bronson #
Wed. Jun. 24 - Richmond, VA - Richmond Music Hall
Thu. Jun. 25 - Washington, DC - Songbyrd
Fri. Jun. 26 - Philadelphia, PA  - Ortlieb’s
Sat. Jun. 27 - Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool
Sun. Jun.  28 -  Medford, MA - Deep Cuts
Fri. Aug. 28 - Malaga, ES - Canela Party Festival
Wed. Sep. 2  - Glasgow, UK - Hug & Pint
Thu. Sep. 3 - Birmingham, UK -  Hare & Hounds
Sat. Sep. 5 - London, UK -  The Lexington
Sun. Sep. 6 -  Rotterdam, NL - Rotown
Tue. Sep. 8 - Berlin, DE - Urban Spree
Wed. Sep. 9 - Koln, DE - Bumann
Thu. Sep. 10 - Paris, FR -  Point Ephemere
Fri. Sep. 11 - Lille, FR- Aeronef
Sun. Sep. 13 Asten, NL - Misty Fields Festival
 
* with Bully
^ with Mrs. Magician
# with Wintersleep

Hoopla is now available for preorder on CD/LP/all DSPs worldwide from Sub Pop and in Canada from Dine Alone. LP preorders in the US through Sub Pop Mega Mart will receive the limited Loser Edition on Emerald Green-Blue vinyl; preorders through Mega Mart Europe will receive the Loser Edition on Transparent Orange (UK/EU). The Canadian exclusive will be available on Orange/Blue/White Solar Flare from Dine Alone. The limited Loser Editions will also be available at your local record store (All limited vinyl colors available while stock lasts!).
 
What people have said about Weird Nightmare:
“Weird Nightmare is all about hooks and melody. Still delivered with levels in the red, but these are ultracatchy powerpop songs first and foremost, and really good ones at that.” - Brooklyn Vegan
 
“The debut Weird Nightmare album from METZ guitarist/vocalist Alex Edkins is a hook-filled set of blown-out power-pop with distorted guitars, punchy rhythms and bright pop melodies.” - KEXP
 
“Alex Edkins finally lets those melodies loose, resulting in an irresistibly euphoric blast of feedback spattered garage-pop that is just what the doctor ordered to chase away any lingering post-lockdown blues.’” - The Quietus
 
“All chiming chords and smart harmonies, Wrecked is a boisterous ode to ’90s indie-rock and everything that followed.” -  [“Wrecked”] Guitar World


US LOSER
Weird Nightmare
Hoopla
 
Tracklisting:
1. Headful of Rain
2. Might See You There
3. Baby Don’t
4. Forever Elsewhere
5. Never in Style
6. Pay No Mind
7. If You Should Turn Away
8. Little Strange
9. Bright City Lights (ft. Julianna Riolino)
10. Where I Belong

Posted by Abbie Gobeli

NEWS : THU, FEB 5, 2026 at 7:00 AM

Iron & Wine Shares Official Video For “Roses,”

Iron & Wine today shares a new single and official video for “Roses,”  the latest offering from their forthcoming album Hen’s Teeth, out worldwide Friday, February 27th, from Sub Pop.
 
Directed and animated by noted animation artist Gaia Alari, this fully hand-drawn animation follows the song as two characters chase each other through a dark river, a forest, and a garden in the sky. Click here to watch.
 
Iron & Wine will begin a WORLD tour later this month in Australia & New Zealand, with headline dates in North America, running from April to May, and newly announced dates in October. See below for a complete list of shows. Tickets can be purchased here.

 
Australia & New Zealand
Sat. Feb. 28 - Perth, AU - The Rechabite *
Mon. Mar. 02 - Brisbane, AU - The Princess Theatre *
Wed. Mar. 04 - Sydney, AU - City Recital Hall *
Fri. Mar. 06 - Adelaide, AU - WOMADelaide *
Sat. Mar. 07 - Port Fairy, AU - Port Fairy Folk Festival
Sun. Mar 08 - Port Fairy, AU - Port Fairy Folk Festival
Tue. Mar. 10 - Melbourne, AU - Northcote Theatre *
Thu. Mar. 12 - Hobart, AU - Odeon Theatre *
Sat. Mar. 14 - Auckland, NZ - Powerstation *
Sun. Mar - 15, Wellington, NZ - Meow Nui *

 

North America
Tue. Mar. 17 - Honolulu, HI - The Hawaii Theatre ^
Wed. Mar. 18 - Kahului, HI - Maui Arts & Cultural Center Castle Theater ^
Mon. Apr. 27th - St Louis, MO - The Pageant @
Tue. Apr. 28th - Columbia, MO - The Blue Note @
Wed. Apr. 29th - Omaha, NE - Astro Theater @
Fri. May 01 - Saint Paul, MN - Fitzgerald Theater @
Sat. May 02 - Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall Ballroom @
Sun. May 03 - Iowa City, IA - The Englert Theatre @
Tue. May 05 - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall @
Wed. May 06 - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall @
Fri. May 08 - Ann Arbor, MI - Michigan Theater @
Sat. May 09 - Niagara Falls, CA - The Avalon Theatre at Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort @
Sun. May 10 -  Albany, NY - The Egg @
Mon. May 11 - Philadelphia, PA -  Union Transfer @
Wed. May 13 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Steel @
Thu. May 14 - Washington, D.C. - 9:30 Club @
Fri. May 15 - Norfolk, VA -  The NorVa  @
Sat. May 16 - Saxapahaw, NC - Haw River Ballroom @
Sun. May 17 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle @
Thu. Oct 8 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre !
Fri. Oct 9 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot !
Sat. Oct 10 - Boise, ID - Treefort Music Hall !
Mon. Oct 12 - Portland, OR - Revolution Hall !
Tue. Oct 13 - Seattle, WA - The 5th Avenue Theatre !
Thu. Oct 15 - Astoria, OR - Liberty Theatre !
Fri. Oct 16 - San Francisco, CA - The Castro !
Sat. Oct 17 - Los Angeles, CA - TBA !
Sun. Oct 18 - Los Angeles, CA - TBA %
Tue. Oct 20 - El Cajon, CA - The Magnolia %
Wed. Oct 21 - Tucson, AZ - La Rosa %
Fri. Oct 23 - San Antonio, TX - Stable Hall %
Sat. Oct 24 - Dallas, TX - Majestic Theatre %
Sun. Oct 25 - Tulsa, OK - Guthrie Green ! %
Tue. Oct 27 - Memphis, TN - TBA %
Wed. Oct 28 - Atlanta, GA - The Eastern
Thu. Oct 29 - Columbia, SC - The Senate %

 
*with Leah Senior
^ with Jenny Yim
@ with Improvement Movement
! with Ken Pomeroy
% with DUG

 
Hen’s Teeth is now available to preorder on CD/LP/all DSPs from Sub Pop. LPs purchased from megamart.subpop.comMegaMart Europe in the UK + EU, and your local record store, will receive the limited Loser Edition on Transparent White (NA), Oxblood (UK/EU), and Australia/New Zealand (White) while supplies last.


Iron & Wine 
Hen’s Teeth
 
Track Listing:
1. Roses
2. Paper and Stone
3. Robin’s Egg (feat. I’m With Her)
4. Singing Saw
5. In Your Ocean
6. Defiance, Ohio
7. Wait Up (feat. I’m With Her)
8. Grace Notes
9. Dates and Dead People
10. Half Measures 


Posted by Abbie Gobeli

NEWS : WED, FEB 4, 2026 at 7:00 AM

Lala Lala Presents “Arrow”

Lala Lala, the project of Lillie West, releases “Arrow,” the fourth single/video from her new album and Sub Pop debut, Heaven 2, out February 27th. “Arrow” marks a moment of bold joy, capturing the escape that happens when one is freed from pain. The song samples French electro-pop band La Femme and moves fast – its swiftness and pleasure feel like running towards something, not away. “None of this was supposed to happen,” West sings, as the song races away from her. “It’s such a basic spiritual thing,” West reflects. “Resistance is the root of all suffering, and I did not know that. I thought that I could dictate the course of my life.” Of course, like everyone else, she could not. Wherever you go, there you are.

“Arrow” follows “Heaven2,” the “haunting, vocal-and-synth exercise that slowly morphs into a dazzling and funky R&B slow jam,” (FLOOD) the “cosmic” (Stereogum) “Even Mountains Erode,” and the “exquisite” (Stereogum) lead single, “Does This Go Faster?.”

Watch the Video for “Arrow”

For many years, West lived in Chicago, where she established Lala Lala as an integral part of the city’s indie scene, releasing two albums – The Lamb (2018) and I Want the Door to Open (2021) – on the Sub Pop imprint Hardly Art. They were powerful statements from a curious artist: catchy guitar-pop songs about being stuck in the ups and downs of life, the struggle to stay sober, to leave town, to blow up your life. West left Chicago to search for more, and in the process, wrote Heaven 2. On her journey, she landed off the grid in Taos, Iceland, and London. Following a residency in a tiny Icelandic town, she made her way to Reykjavik and released an instrumental album, If I Were A Real Man I Would Be Able To Break The Neck Of A Suffering Bird (2024), and finally headed to Los Angeles, where she has, almost surprisingly, fallen in love and found herself settled. 

West has always made her music in response to an itchiness to always be moving, but as she developed a burgeoning desire to settle, she found the surprise realization that steadiness can beget creativity. That evolutionary tension is what fuels Heaven 2. The album was co-produced by West and Jay Som’s Melina Duterte, who provides a strong punchiness as a bed for West’s warm, rounded vocals. Duterte and West performed almost all of the album’s instruments with a few crucial guests, including Sen Morimoto, Macie Stewart, and Porches’ Aaron Maine. 

Heaven 2 is now available to preorder on CD/LP/all DSPs from Sub Pop. LPs purchased from megamart.subpop.com, MegaMart Europe in the UK + EU, and your local record store, will receive the limited Loser Edition on Ocean Blue (NA) and Crystal Clear (UK/EU) vinyl, while supplies last. Lala Lala will embark on a North American tour next month and will support Death Cab for Cutie for two dates in August. 

Pre-Order Heaven 2

Watch the Video for “Does This Go Faster?”

Watch the Video for “Even Mountains Erode”

Listen to “Heaven2”

Lala Lala Tour Dates

(New Dates in Bold)

Fri. March 6 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah %

Sat. March 7 - Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy + Harriett’s %

Sun. March 8 - Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress %

Tue. March 10 - Austin, TX @ 29th St. Ballroom %

Wed. March 11 - Dallas, TX @ Rubber Gloves %

Fri. March 13 - Denver, CO @ Globe Hall %

Sun. March 15 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court %

Tue. March 17 - Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall %

Wed. March 18 - Seattle, WA @ Baba Yaga %

Fri. March 20 - San Francisco, CA @ Cafe du Nord %

Sat. March 21 - Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room %

Tue. March 31 - Washington, DC @ Songbyrd*

Wed April 1 - Raleigh, NC @ Kings*

Thu. April 2 - Asheville, NC @ Eulogy*

Fri. April 3 - Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade Altar*

Sat. April 4 - Nashville, TN @ Blue Room @ Third Man*

Tue. April 7 - Minneapolis, MN @ Zhora Darling*

Wed. April 8 - Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club*

Thu. April 9 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall*

Fri. April 10 - Detroit, MI @ Lager House*

Sat. April 11 - Toronto, ON @ The Garrison*

Sun. April 12 - Montreal, CA @ L’Esco*

Tue. April 14 - Boston, MA @ The Sinclair*

Wed. April 15 - Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA*

Thu. April 16 - New York, NY @ Nightclub 101*

Fri. April 17 - Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right*

Thu. Aug. 6 - Las Vegas, NV @ The Theater at Virgin Hotels ^ 

Fri. Aug. 7 - Paso Robles, CA @ Vina Robles Amphitheatre ^ 


% = w/ lots of hands

* = w/ mother soki

^ = supporting Death Cab for Cutie



Posted by Abbie Gobeli

NEWS : FRI, FEB 6, 2026 at 7:00 AM

Hear Chat Pile’s “Masks“ b/w “Sifting”

Today is Friday, February 6th, 2026, and you can now hear Oklahoma City noise-rock powerhouse Chat Pile’s two new studio tracks: the original titled “Masks,” and the other a burly reimagining of the early Nirvana song “Sifting.” The songs are from the band’s now sold-out, limited-edition 7” Sub Pop single announced late last year.
 
Physical media collectors don’t fret - you still have a chance to grab the tour-only version pressed on peach vinyl available at Chat Pile’s live shows. There is also a sick new collaborative logo T-shirt that is still available (7” Single and T-shirt, available while supplies last!).
 
Sub Pop is thrilled that Chat Pile graced us with these two massive songs, and we couldn’t be happier to add them to the list of greats who have released music for the label. The band kindly shared their perspective on this release, so we’ll let them elaborate further:
 
“It’s a true dream to put out a single on Sub Pop, and our new song ‘Masks’ hopefully honors the spirit of the mythical, sometimes mystical, city of Seattle. Thanks in part to the movie Hype, we have long been obsessed with Seattle, the American underground of the late ‘80s, and Sub Pop and their tools of world domination. Everything we learned about packaging Chat Pile, we learned from Sub Pop co-founders Jonathan Poneman and Bruce Pavitt.
 
“We wanted to cover a song from the early Sub Pop era, and something off Bleach seemed the obvious choice. Songs like ‘Paper Cuts,’ ‘Negative Creep,’ and especially ‘Sifting’ are fairly lateral to the type of sounds we make with Chat Pile. (Perhaps next time we’ll take on a TAD song!)
 
“To mark the occasion, we’ve also donated $3,000 to DREAM Action OK, a community-based organization that aims to empower our local immigrant community through advocacy and education to ensure justice for all immigrants. Learn more about DAOK here.
 
Thanks to Sub Pop for giving us the opportunity to put this single out - we hope you enjoy it.
 
“And most importantly, FUCK ICE!”


Chat Pile On Tour
Thu. Aug. 06 - Ancora, PT - Sonic Blast Festival
Sat. Aug. 08 - Katowice, PL - OFF Festival
Fri. Aug. 14 - Col Du Lein, CH - Palp Festival
Sat. Aug. 22 - Bristol, UK - Arctangent Festival



Posted by Abbie Gobeli

NEWS : TUE, FEB 17, 2026 at 8:00 AM

Sub Pop Ensnares Musician And Occasional Politician Hayden Pedigo With Unorthodox Recording Deal

Sub Pop has snagged the acclaimed young musician Hayden Pedigo with an unorthodox recording contract. Among other things, this union will spawn a number of new albums, one of which Hayden is currently hard at work on.
 
In celebration of this news, Hayden is sharing the oddly specific details of his contractual agreement, along with tour dates and details of an upcoming NTS Live residency.
 
First, the agreement:


Hayden Pedigo and Sub Pop are ever so pleased to confirm that these terms were found mutually agreeable, and this agreement is now law.
 
Hayden Pedigo’s upcoming international live shows for 2026 include a headlining performance on Thursday, March 26th in Brooklyn, NY at St. John’s Lutheran Church, and festival appearances on Saturday, March 28th in Knoxville, TN at Big Ears Festival, and Thursday, April 9th-12th in The Hague, Netherlands at Rewire Festival.
 
Hayden Pedigo will also host a new, four-month-long residency titled Amarillo Highway With Hayden Pedigo on NTS Live beginning February 25th.
 
More on Hayden Pedigo…
Hayden Pedigo: man, myth, master of disguise; un-picker, finger-picker, absurdist, perfectionist. The unorthodox contender for Amarillo City Council, subject of the film Kid Candidate, and creator of the acclaimed albums for Mexican Summer: Letting Go (2021), The Happiest Times I Ever Ignored (2023), and his latest release, I’ll Be Waving as You Drive Away (2025).
 
He’s an innovator of the instrumental genre. A challenger of the stereotypical, son of a truck-stop preacher, he backs up a cherry red Silverado under his own smiling, Brylcreemed and Nudie-Suited billboard. His foot hesitates above the gas pedal as a cloud of dust rises. Where between beaming advert and disillusioned entertainer might his truest self lie?  I’ll Be Waving…his intentionally maximalist, genre-resistant work of warped instrumental Americana – is an exclamation point at the end of an accidental trilogy of records. The album was selected for “Best Albums of 2025” lists from All Music, Nialler9, No Ripcord, PASTE, and Pitchfork. The latter says of the record in its “Best New Music” review, “On his most majestic and sincere record yet, the Texas guitarist plays with grace and power, evoking the gentle emptiness of the American West.”
 
2025 also saw the release of In The Earth Again, the well-received collaborative album with Oklahoma City’s Chat Pile, released on the Computer Students label. That album also saw year-end praise from the likes of Beats Per Minute, The Needle DropTreble Zine, and Stereogum, who called the album “…the two acts find a cohesive middle ground in this brutally dystopian guitar music, with Pedigo’s fingerpicking contrasting Raygun Busch’s seared vocals. The result almost feels like a southern gothic novel: devastating, vast, yet oddly warm all the same.”


Posted by Abbie Gobeli

NEWS : WED, FEB 18, 2026 at 6:00 AM

The Bug Club Is Back With Their First New Album in …Eleven Months!

Caldicot, Monmouthshire, Wales’ finest, The Bug Club, will release Every Single Muscle, their incredible new album on CD/LP/all DSPs worldwide on Friday, May 29th, from Sub Pop. The 18-track longplayer features today’s first single, “Watching the Omnibus,” along with approximately 17 other tight, anxious, and engaging garage-punk numbers like “Yours (If You Want Me),” “A Good Day for Dying,” “Make It Count,” and “My Uncle Warren Drives a Passat.”  Every Single Muscle was produced and mixed by Tom Rees at Rat Trap Studios in Cardiff, Wales, and mastered by Mikey Young.
 
Every Single Muscle is available to preorder now on CD/LP/all DSPs from Sub Pop. LP preorders from megamart.subpop.com in North America, Mega Mart Europe in the UK + EU, and your local record store, will receive the limited Loser Edition opaque blue (NA) and blue vinyl (UK/EU)(all vinyl color editions whilst stock lasts!). Every Single Muscle also features what is likely the band’s most BONKERS cover art to date, illustrated by Ross Willmett.
 
The Bug Club has also announced headlining UK dates for May and June 2026, plus a May 23rd support slot opening for Super Furry Animals in London. Additional live dates will be announced soon.

 

Sat. May 09 - Wrexham, UK -  The Rockin’ Chair
Sat. May 23 - London, UK - Brixton Academy*
Mon. Jun. 01- Norwich, UK - Arts Centre
Tue. Jun. 02 - Brighton, Uk - Concorde 2
Wed. Jun. 03 - Bristol, UK - The Lantern
Thu. Jun. 04 - Liverpool, UK - Hangar 34
Fri. Jun. 05 - Leeds, UK - Project House
Sat. Jun. 06 - Barry, UK - Memo Arts Centre
* supporting Super Furry Animals

 

More on The Bug Club’s Every Single Muscle:

The Bug Club are back with a new album. It’s been a whole eleven months since their last. Where have they been?
 
Every Single Muscle, the band’s fifth LP, arrives 29th May 2026 via Sub Pop, making it a hat-trick for the Welsh duo and their esteemed Seattle-based patrons. Since Very Human Features, which emerged in June of 2025, the non-stop tour has seen the BBC 6 Music and KEXP favourites ping-pong across the Atlantic like they used to the Severn Bridge. Various festival slots in the summer kept them from having any sort of holiday - who needs one when you live in Wales anyway? - until it was time to head back to the writing room.
 
So that answers that first question. Not that you’d have otherwise known. Ever self-effacing, songwriters Sam (guitar, vocals) and Tilly (bass, vocals) go as far as to claim that they’ve been sitting around “doing nothing at all” during track “It’s Our Manager David.” That’s clearly a lie. Every Single Muscle gets off to a full-throttle, chugging start with “Miss Wales 2012,” referencing a competition both Tilly and Sam have actually won. Dead serious. It’s the first of many sub-two-minute tracks on the album, setting the tone for The Bug Club’s punkiest offering yet and recalling both the short, sharp snaps of their very first singles and the grunt of recent releases. So packed is the album with wall-to-wall riffs and lyrical hooks rammed into tight confines that Sam actually asks permission to squeeze in a solo during second track “A Good Day for Dying.” He’s given two seconds.
 
Not that we’re short-changed, though, because Sam asks again later on and is granted more. Across eighteen tunes there’s enough classic Sam/Tilly guitar interplay to satisfy even the most vociferous Bug Club club member and firmly refute the band’s own claim that they are only “just about technically proficient on our instruments.” “Full Range of Motion” has a choppy rhythm that sits atop drummer Tom’s tight beat and serves to remind us all of Minutemen, for a minute. “Make It Count” brings sweet melody and call and response, while “All My Clothes Fell Off” allows for a slower paced ballad that builds to a crescendo that would not be out of place in the world of classic rock. “Cut to Black” combines a Sparks-esque falsetto and Tilly’s melodic bass playing with a rhythm something close-ish to what Klaus Dinger used to do for Neu! And closer “My Uncle Warren Drives a Passat” sees them doing a bit of a left turn and swapping out guitars for keys. This record’s an exercise in efficient maximalism - the musical equivalent of your dad packing the car for a holiday. Bring what you like; space is tight but they’ll get it in there somehow.
 
On to the words, because with these guys those are important. While Very Human Features did an excellent job of pointing at everyday things and highlighting their absurdity, on Every Single Muscle The Bug Club look more closely at themselves. Not so much in an introspective way, though. More in a way an alien might probe a captive specimen on an intergalactic gurney. Horror movies get their “body” subgenre, now garage rock albums get theirs too. Self-interested in an entirely new sense of the term, the human form and condition is prodded and inspected from every angle throughout the course of the album. “Look Like Me” sees them singing about their own appearance, while on “How Can We Be Friends” they are preoccupied with others’. “Every Single Muscle” itemises organs as if they belong on a shopping list, and both “Make It Count” and “Pretty as a Magazine” bemoan the fact people don’t know what to do with their own bodies. Altogether, we get a sense of surreal detachment from the self that sets up the ever-present ennui-laden humour; the last song sees Sam announce he’s “bored of being human.” The Bug Club seem almost suspicious of the concept of being a person - as if they’ve woken up in a costume they didn’t want to put on and cannot take off.
 
Initially comprising the songwriting core of Sam Willmett (vocals/guitar) and Tilly Harris (vocals/bass) with Dan Matthew (drums), The Bug Club started plying their trade in 2016. They were signed by UK label Bingo Records in Autumn 2020 and first single “We Don’t Need Room for Lovin” was released in February 2021, followed by EP Launching Moondream One. It quickly established The Bug Club as the tongue-in-cheek and live-focused antidote to the previous year’s penned-in pandemic drudgery. BBC 6 Music’s Marc Riley was an early champion.
 
Pure Particles followed, whose vinyl release included a board game brimming with cult references. Fed up with the conventional approach they then released “Intelectuals”: a standalone track that was actually a five-track “song suite” like some kind of streaming-model-snubbing, Telecaster-bashing answer to Bach. Highbrow musos took a lyrical beating for the ages. Second standalone release “Two Beauties” marked release number two for 2022 and built up to the appearance of debut album Green Dream in F# by October. The following January they decided to pull their fingers out, get some disguises and support themselves on tour as Mr Anyway’s Holey Spirits. A live album documented this, then they got abstract with titles and put out the picture disc Picture This! By the autumn of 2023 it was time for forty-seven track, poetry-infused double album Rare Birds: Hour of Song.
 
During a trip to America they caught the eye of Sub Pop, just in time to get them on board to serve up a beefy slab of garage-punk on On the Inner Workings of the System, gaining an appropriately beefed-up stateside following in the process. The partnership proved fruitful, and with Sup Pop firmly in The Bug Club club they got cracking on Very Human Features. Is three the magic number? Probably not. But Every Single Muscle - number three for The Bug Club and Sub Pop - certainly comes close enough to convince your average strange human person that it might be.


The Bug Club
Every Single Muscle
 
Tracklisting:
1. Miss Wales 2012
2. A Good Day for Dying
3. Make It Count
4. Cut to Black
5. Full Range of Motion
6. Pretty as a Magazine
7. Look Like Me
8. How Can We Be Friends
9. Every Single Muscle
10. Shiny and Wet
11. Semi-Automatic
12. In My Short Life
13. Watching the Omnibus
14. It’s Our Manager David
15. Yours (If You Want Me)
16. All My Clothes Fell Off
17. Third Best Friend
18. My Uncle Warren Drives a Passat


Posted by Abbie Gobeli