The Bug Club (Sub Pop)

Welsh band The Bug Club have been churning out music quite prolifically for the last few years, and their latest album, Very Human Features, comes hot on the heels of the band’s first Sub Pop release, 2024’s On the Intricate Inner Workings of the System. The songwriting core of Sam Willmett (vocals/guitar) and Tilly Harris (vocals/bass) started creating music together when they were only 14 years old. They were signed by U.K. label Bingo Records in 2020, and released the EP Launching Moondream One. As their success grew in the U.K., they caught the eye of Sub Pop, the label that brought their music Stateside with the quirky, Garage Punk stylings of On the Intricate Inner Workings of the System. The partnership proved fruitful, and The Bug Club wasted no time getting to work on the new album, Very Human Features, which is a witty whirlwind of self-referential, good-humored, eccentric Modern Rock.

The Bug Club doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is what makes the new album so much fun. “Living in the Future” is an offbeat, sonically playful track with unexpected shifting rhythms. The tones on “Twirling In the Middle” give a nod to the classic British Punk Rock sound of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. The bubbling bassline of “How to Be a Confidante” finds Sam and Tilly trading vocal duties and speaking as two voices from the same mind, as they poke fun at a dysfunctional friendship, singing, “If I’m lucky, I’ll never have another friend like you.” 

The song “Jealous Boy” lends the album a more serious tone, as it tackles expectations and comparisons, with a loud-quiet-loud structure reflecting the ups-and-downs of frustration and envy. The band has been getting radio support on “Jealous Boy” as well as “Have U Ever Been 2 Wales” from KUTX, WCNR, WXPN, KTBG, WNXP, WNRN and more.

“At the heart of it, we just really enjoy writing, playing, and performing music,” Willmett said in an interview with The Line of Best Fit. “I wouldn’t necessarily be able to tell you why we wrote each song, exactly why a certain guitar sounds the way it sounds, apart from the fact that we really liked how it sounded in the studio.” Harris doubled down on that simplistic approach, adding, “I think we both enjoy setting time aside to write songs. It usually gets too crazy on tour, so we might just be writing some bits down in a notebook, but when you get home, you’re almost able to sit down and say ‘I’m writing now,’ and when you do that, we can pretty quickly put together some tracks.”