Dig ‘in: The Bug Club, Robyn Hitchcock, Bill Callahan
Check out what the No Wristbands team is listening to and what’s in our show calendars this month on our latest Dig ‘in.
INCOMING
The Bug Club - Green Dream in F# (Bingo Records LP)
The world is in terrible shape, I may be suffering from election anxiety, but if super-catchy, fun-minded indie guitar rock is just what you need right now, you've come to the right place. Green Dream in F# is full of ridiculous, not to be taken seriously lyrics, deadpan vocals (a la Syd Barrett, albeit without the darkness or mania), and melodic fast-paced tunes to keep it rolling. There are couple of slower songs, my least favorites; overall I like the energy and the joy of the uptempo nature of this album. Clever they are not; there are a couple times where a funny line or a chorus gets repeated into the ground, but that's OK. The Wedding Present would call them "really daft."
This Welsh trio landed on my Spotify list one week in early 2021 and I've been hooked ever since. That first song, unfortunately not on this album, was "We Don't Need Room For Loving" (because their stereo takes up most of their bedroom), in which they charmingly sing the (British) alphabet. Though this may be their debut LP, they've already put out more than an album's worth of singles & EPs. Sadly, none of those songs are on here, and those are a lot of my favorites, and I would recommend you seek them out.
A few comparisons come to mind—Wet Leg, for their laissez-faire approach (though they can be more introspective); the awkwardly sincere British band Art Brut; and naive Australians The Goon Sax, though they try to grapple with issues the Bug Club are studiously ignoring. This is low-stakes rock, not intellectually challenging, not to be reviewed by Pitchfork, but to be enjoyed as a simple pleasure. As the late much-missed punk sage D. Boon of the Minutemen once sang, "there are still lofty dreams, meager desires, and still silliness." This is silly, goofy, wonderful nonsense, an island of fun you might want to escape to right now. -Jon Ginoli
Robyn Hitchcock - Shufflemania! (Tiny Ghost LP)
Many singer-songwriters with Robyn Hitchcock’s creative longevity have diverse stylistic phases (e.g., Bob Dylan’s “gospel” phase or Johnny Cash’s late, stripped down “American Recordings” phase). But over a 40-year span, Hitchcock’s style has barely budged from the surreal, acid-cracked lyrics and mid-to-late ‘60s-style songcraft that marked his 1981 solo debut Black Snake Diamond Röle. While he can vary his presentation from spare, folky ambience to full-on, modern rock production, the music itself is always stamped with Hitchcock’s singular fingerprint. That’s OK, and it’s certainly true on his new disc, Shufflemania! Recorded in various locations during the pandemic, the 10 new tracks serve up classic Hitchcock elements. Album opener “The Shuffle Man” is one of those frenetic strummers strewn with breathless, whimsical imagery that pops up on many Hitchcock discs. But “The Inner Life of Scorpio” quickly shifts things back to what’s made Hitchcock a legend. It’s a tapestry of gentle, midtempo chords falling as elegantly as a slow snowfall piling up to a chorus of sighing vocal harmonies. Elsewhere “The Feathery Serpent God,” with its gentle sitar drone, lets the psychedelic DNA in Hitchcock’s songcraft bleed through, while “The Man Who Loves the Rain” is every bit as gorgeous as his 1980s classic “Raymond Chandler Evening.” Then there’s “Noirer Than Noir,” which alternates marimba-flecked spy movie ambience with a shimmery chorus of flecked notes like handfuls of glitter tossed in sunlight. “Shufflemania!” may not be Hitchcock’s very best, but it ranks with his stronger discs for sure. -Rick Reger
Bill Callahan - YTI⅃AƎЯ (Drag City LP)
Bill Callahan is a mysterious man. His early work under the name Smog was lo-fi and experimental, and he was a hard to pin down. Over the past decade or so as he's started to release music under his own name, Callahan's music has started to become more polished, specific, and happy, which is a definite departure from earlier work. He's settled down in Austin Texas, and has been experiencing a creative flourish over the past 3 years having put out three solo albums, and one collaborative album with Bonnie "Prince" Billy. YTI⅃AƎЯ is his latest offering, and it continues the exploration of his place in the world while trying to get listeners back to pre-pandemic ways of life. Backed by a full band this time, the album flows from the somber "Everyway" to the expansive, open-ended “Planets,” and concludes with a lament to a man gone too soon in "Last One At The Party.” Bill Callahan albums are always growers for me, and I look forward to getting to live in this album more over time. -Mark Joyner
UPCOMING
Been Stellar
Where: Empty Bottle / Directions
When: November 10, 8:30 PM
Guitarist Skylar St. Marx doesn’t believe that Been Stellar’s music could have been conceived anywhere outside of New York City. He and vocalist Sam Slocum started playing together in Michigan before departing to attend college at NYU. In a matter of five years, the duo have soaked up the music and art scene culture that’s provided inspiration for a countless number of groundbreaking works. Along with drummer Laila Wayans, bassist Nico Brunstein and 2nd guitarist Nando Dale, the group balance noise and melody with a distinct perspective of navigating metro life while still just getting their feet wet. Their latest self-titled EP holds great promise, so the Bottle show is an enticing opportunity to catch them (and headliners Just Mustard) before the rest of the world catches on. -Bruce Novak
Get Smart!
Where: Liar’s Club / Directions
When: November 11, 9:00 PM
The last time I saw Get Smart! was at the Metro in 1986. That was quite a while ago. We had interviewed them for our old fanzine, Non Stop Banter. Originally hailing from Lawrence, Kansas, the band had moved to Chicago in 1983 and played often around town throughout the ‘80s. They released two full-length albums—Action Reaction in 1984 and Swimming With Sharks in 1986—but broke up in 1990. In 2020, the original trio of Marcus Koch (guitar), Lisa Wertman Crowe (bass) and Frank Loose (drums) decided to re-form for a 40th anniversary and put out a six song EP called Oh Yeah No from previously unreleased 1987 recordings. They’ve since played a few shows and will be bringing their danceable edgy agit-pop/punk mix for a return visit to the Liar’s Club. -Tom Novak
King Buffalo
Where: Sleeping Village / Directions
When: November 17 & 18, 8:00 PM
Having access to a sizable practice space at the Main Street Armory in their native city of Rochester, New York enabled King Buffalo to hunker down during the pandemic for some epic jam sessions. Parsing through those recordings led to the idea of producing a trilogy, with each release distinct in sound and feel. The resulting records (The Burden of Restlessness, Acheron and Regenerator) were all completed in the span of a year and are testament to the versatility of the band. With a base sound rooted in heavy psych and stoner stylings, King Buffalo branch out by incorporating elements of kraut and space rock. Their songs often gestate in a slow-burn, smoldering start and then give way to an explosion of molten lava intensity. Sean McVay’s vocals provide a tranquil counterpart to the instrumental mayhem that he, Dan Reynolds (bass) and Scott Donaldson (drums) produce. Listening to King Buffalo is an immersive experience—a sound stimuli that’s blissful and adrenalized in equal measures. -Bruce Novak
UNCOVERED
The Embarrassment - Heyday 1979-83 (1982 - 2002) (Bar/None Records compilation)
While it’s still difficult nowadays to garner attention for a band outside a major metropolitan area, consider the plight of The Embarrassment. When they formed in Wichita, Kansas in 1979, there were few lifelines available to connect with what was happening in the alternative music scene. Perhaps a decent record store or two, a college radio station, and a few fanzines to keep tabs on bands that were never destined to get any ink from the mainstream press. Some musicians are celebrated by elitist followers for their obscurity, but the Embos never had a choice in that matter. Nearly forty years after their original dissolution, they’re being feted with their own documentary, sarcastically titled We Were Famous, You Don’t Remember.
Operating in relative isolation on the Great Plains ensured that the band wouldn’t be beholden to any trends. They were inventive and geeky, with all four members bespectacled in a manner of a later day Buddy Holly—whom they honored by covering “Maybe, Baby.” Their music was a product of sci-fi & horror films, lurid pulp fiction and whimsical sitcom TV with a ‘60s garage band foundation and skewed pop sensibility. They were whip-smart, but never took themselves very seriously. Comprised of over forty tracks, Heyday is nearly an exhaustive account of their recorded output with nary a lackluster song in the bunch. Guitarist Bill Goffrier would go on to form the superlative Big Dipper, briefly joined by drummer Brent “Woody” Giessmann before he departed for The Del Fuegos. Being reunited with singer John Nichols and bassist Ron Klaus for a show in their hometown in conjunction to the documentary premiere had to have been a source of immense satisfaction. Evidence that great music perseveres—regardless of where it comes from. -Bruce Novak
We recommend listening along over at our Spotify page. Here’s this week’s content: