BUG CLUB - Very Human Features

The first thing that strikes you when looking at Bug Club's trajectory is their sheer productive bulimia. Between 2021 and 2025 they've released four albums, three EPs, a live record, and as I write these lines a new work has already been announced, slated for next May. It's worth pausing a moment to sum up the situation. Originally from Wales, Bug Club started out as a trio: Sam Willmett (guitar and vocals), Tilly Harris (bass and vocals) and Dan Thomas (drums, who would soon leave the fold). Reduced to a duo, they signed to Sub Pop - not bad at all - for whom "Very Human Features" marks their second release, containing thirteen new garage-indie-pop-rock tracks in which Bug Club keep their traits fully intact: songs bent just the right amount out of shape, full of sudden changes of direction, tight rhythms, unexpected guitar solos, and quirky lyrics dense with humour and irony, where the narrative unfolds through little sketches, woven from the charming two-voice conversations between Sam and Tilly, who probe the small paradoxes of everyone's absurd daily life.

A couple of tracks stand out above the rest, in particular "Twirling In The Middle", the true highlight of the album, which confirms an obvious closeness to Pavement (I also pick up on some vague echoes of Talking Heads in there, though that might just be an echo circulating only inside my own head). And then there's the rounded perfection of the closing "Appropriate Emotions", in which Bug Club show off a genuinely remarkable melodic streak.

In the rest of the record you'll find the slacker sprawl of Courtney Barnett, the colourful irreverence of the B-52's, postcards from Modern Lovers, and even a sudden psych-folk detour, on the acoustic "Muck".

Not everything is completely in focus, and some moments could stand to be improved: sometimes putting out too much music too fast can backfire. Live, though, they're unmissable, but that's another story (and in any case on this page you can watch their performance recorded for KEXP). The fact remains that "Very Human Features" firmly launches this likeable, talented duo into orbit, to the point that, for the first time, their next record is far more anticipated than any of their previous ones. That will be the real acid test: no pressure, guys...

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google

23/02/2026