Bug Day - Oh, Dry Up (Records DK)

Bug Day does that thing that bands like Nirvana did so well. I’m not saying that they sound like the aforementioned band, well, maybe in places, but their ability to write songs that feel addictive and infectious to an almost (alt-alt-alt-)pop degree and then bury them under swathes of raw-edged and cavernous guitars echoes of the Seattle three-piece.

The strangely named “Oh, Dry Up” sums this up perfectly, alternating between recognisable grooves and wonky guitar passages, abrasive riffs and almost soulful licks, tsunami waves of sonic energy and unexpected, jangling interludes.

Bug Day knows that many forget that if you want to write a song with both weight and addiction, it isn’t about velocity, volume and impact. Okay, it is, but you don’t produce those simply by turning everything up to eleven and beating the living daylights out of every drum skin, bass string and guitar within easy reach. You do it by layering various tones and textures and creating the required force and weight through many competent parts, each doing its own thing and producing a sound that can take your head clean off when stacked together. Metal bands, please take note.

And it doesn’t hurt that they remind me a bit of Pixies, and anyone that comes close to echoing Boston’s most famous and fun-some four-piece is going to be a band that I want to check out some more. So I will, And you should too.

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