CD of The Week

The Bug Club have released their fourth studio album since 2022. When they signed to Sub Pop and released Intricate Inner Workings of the System in 2024, they were introduced to the States as a lo-fi garage punk band with goofy lyrics and simple repetitive hooks. Something like Wales’s answer to Cheekface, should Cheekface have needed an answer. Very Human Features finds the band exploring musical depth and more complex composition. And while we’ve mostly heard guitarist Sam Willmett on vocals, this go-around they’ve smartly expanded bassist Tilly Harris’ vocal workload. With 13 songs, the album can drag at times upon early listens. Especially if you are expecting more of the last album. The closest they get to an instant classic like “Quality Pints” is the driving, classic UK pop punk melody of “Twirling in the Middle.”  But this album redeems itself by offering a full array of styles that grow like a slow burn.

They do continue with the trademarked fuzzy, crackling vocals with producer (and touring drummer) Tom Rees, but here, they are set against a Beatle-y melody on the cutesy “When The Little Choo Choo Train Toots His Little Horn” (think “And Your Bird Can Sing”). Single “How to Be a Confidante” is a stream-of-consciousness metaphoric rant that culminates into the questionable line that could be good or bad: “If I’m lucky, I’ll never have another friend like you.”  It recalls the same oldies pop era and seriously needs to be remixed with The Archies‘ “Sugar Sugar.” In their other single “Jealous Boy,” the vocals start out quiet and vulnerable with an undeniable Welsh tone that distorts as they explode into the chorus. This tonal change illustrates the uncontrollable, volatile, and irrational emotions that epitomize jealousy. “Muck (Very Human Features)” is a sleepy acoustic dream with a furniture assembly instructional tone that breaks character as it becomes frustrated with the manual.

The best moments on the album come with their diversity. The ending track “Appropriate Emotions” has a slight alt-country tone (and slightly woolly vocals) as a ballad that showcases a delicate duet between bandmates. With over-explaining comedic wit, they sing “appropriate emotions for two homo-sapiens to feel in situations like this.” On the other hand, “Living in the Future” starts with a light, flippant tone that wobbles and bops into a super catchy disjointed chorus. The juxtaposed, quick-changing tempos make the song incredibly playful and captivating, hinting at the optimistic unsureness of the future.

The Bug Club have an uncanny knack for breaking down emotions with quirky, creative word association to the point where you don’t even know what they are talking about anymore. But they maintain relatability if you follow the changing vocal intensity, which hints at the various Very Human Features they are showcasing. They’ve always done this, sometimes with embarrassing, cringy lyrics, in the past. But coming into this record, their growth is apparent, showing a range of untapped ability to expand beyond garage punk. That said, The Bug Club are one of those bands who put on a better live performance than their records; complete with lots of shredding, bass vs. guitar duels, and a continued punk rock spirit. Hopefully you were lucky enough to see them crawl through Philly last week with their sold-out stop at Johnny Brenda’s. But if not, rest assured, that like ants in the summertime, they’ll be back.