THE BUG CLUB
Beacon, Bristol - 3rd June 2026
Support: Casual Smart
Back again at the Lantern Hall in the Beacon, but for a very different show this time - our old friends The Bug Club. The show was opened by (very) young Cardiff band Casual Smart, who somewhat nervously played a set of largely upbeat songs. Once described as "Cardiff's most charming indie outsiders", they are a 5-piece of schoolfriends who are building something of a reputation locally. Touring with the Bug Club is likely to move things up a gear for them, and they were clearly loving the surroundings of the Beacon.
"This is 100% the fanciest venue we've ever played," pianist Peter informs us. "There's a fucking charcuterie board backstage!" He is, in fact, the chattiest member of the band (of whom three members share lead vocals), but if I have one word of advice it would be not to feel like you have to talk to the audience between each song. Just play. It felt a bit awkward at times. Oh, and definitely do not introduce your climactic set-closer with the words "I fucking hate this song"...
The Bug Club have a new album out (no shit - like, when don't the Bug Club have a new album out?) and 11 of its 18 (EIGHTEEN!!!) tracks were aired on the night, opening the show with one of my faves, the White Stripes-esque Semi-Automatic. Quite honestly, there's nothing to dislike about Sam, Tilly and their ever-growing archive of sardonic punk songs.
Over the ensuing hour-plus, they deliver a decent quantity of excellent tracks from new record 'Every Single Muscle', a healthy dose of tunes from 2024's 'On The Intricate Inner Workings Of The System' (or "the orange one" as Tilly refers to it), but surprisingly only one from last years brilliant 'Very Human Features'. Most of the proper oldies have been dropped now, but a brace of songs from 'Rare Birds' was warmly received, as well as the seemingly obligatory run-through of 2023 single Out In The Streets. It's weird how the band considers songs that were only released a couple years ago to be "really, really old", but I guess that's a sign of how prolific they are. Five albums (one of them a double), a mini-album, 5 EPs and a clutch of standalone singles, and all in the space of 5 years - that's some going. And it really isn't a case of quantity over quality as you'd be hard-pressed to find much in the way of filler.
Live, they really are a tour-de-force. Tilly is an absolute demon on the bass, and Sam is enjoying being able to play more solos (even if some of them last just mere seconds). Tilly introduces new song Shiny And Wet with the words "Sam's been listening to lots of Sabbath," before the doom-laden intro kicks in. Sam's extended blues-influenced solo in the middle raises a big cheer from the crowd and a salute from Tilly. It's an interesting development in the Bug Club's sound. A lot of the songs on 'Every Single Muscle' are rather short (8 of them are less than two minutes in length) - this one is the oddity, but a welcome one.
I did wonder what I had left to say about the Bug Club, but clearly they have plenty more to give, which can only be a good thing. This was the second time this year we've caught them live, but it still doesn't feel like nearly enough.
Here's a recent BBC 6 Music session featuring 5 of the new songs, all of which were blasted out in Bristol...
No comments:
Post a Comment