News from 2024

NEWS : THU, JUL 25, 2024 at 7:00 AM

Bria Salmena Shares New Single “Bending Over Backwards” (+ Official Video) Available Now On All DSPs

Today, July 25th, Sub Pop & Royal Mountain Records will digitally release “Bending Over Backwards” from Bria Salmena. This stand-alone single from the Canadian artist marks the first original music released under her full name. It also follows Salmena and her longtime collaborator and producer Duncan Hay Jennings’s departure from Orville Peck’s band.
 
“Bending Over Backwards” is a hazy, euphoric song with a pulsing trance-like beat and anthemic chorus, showcasing Salmena’s range as a vocalist. “It’s about some crazy life experiences that I’ve had in the past four years and the work that it takes to go into chaos and come out of it,” she says. Describing the song as “a manic conversation with myself,” Salmena developed different vocal styles for the different parts, pushing herself to sing in an uncomfortable falsetto for the verses, demonstrating her heartfelt desire to embrace change and discomfort in pursuit of artistic authenticity.
 
Directed by Talvi Faustmann, you can watch the official video for “Bending Over Backwards” here.
 
“Bending Over Backwards” was co-produced by Duncan Hay Jennings and Meg Remy (U.S. Girls), mixed by Graham Walsh & Steve Chahley, and mastered by Heba Kadry. Additional instrumentation from Evan Cartwright (Cola) on drums, Lucas Savatti (FRIGS) on bass guitar and piano, with backing vocals from Jaime McCuaig and saxophone from Andy Manktelow.
 
For the better part of the last decade, Bria Salmena has refused to be pigeonholed, effortlessly exploring various genres. Initially becoming known as the frontwoman for critically-acclaimed Canadian experimental post-punk group FRIGS, which she co-founded with producer and multi-instrumentalist Duncan Hay Jennings, Salmena then joined up with the enigmatic sensation Orville Peck, with whom she toured the world for the past half-decade as an indispensable and instantly recognizable member of his live band. Between tours, Salmena and Jennings (also a Peck collaborator) recorded two well-received covers EPs, giving classic and modern Americana songs a gothy dream pop spin, pushing the boundaries of the country genre; the cheekily named Cuntry Covers Vol. 1 & 2 were previously released on Sub Pop under the mononym Bria.
 
Yet the artistically restless Salmena was ready to start carving out her own sound after conquering both the worlds of punk and country—and that meant it was time to lean into the sense of vulnerability that comes with being a solo artist, even if it scared the shit out of her. “I have a really hard time defining myself so concretely because I think that’s just creatively boring,” she says. “I want to do a bunch of different things and explore in all sorts of ways, so it’s nerve-wracking—but it’s also me taking ownership, and that feels good.”
 
And she isn’t entirely on her own, either. Jennings remains Salmena’s closest creative collaborator— since both left Peck’s band earlier this year, they have dedicated themselves to mapping out a musical path that feels artistically authentic and fresh, forging new territory free from past expectations. “I come from a punk background, and then I explored my affection for country music. I feel like those two worlds are combining, and I’m finding my own sound within that,” says Salmena.
 
In her solo music, Salmena pairs various eras of brooding rock music—from austere goth and cottony shoegaze to hypnotic krautrock and gleaming coldwave—with an introspective singer-songwriter approach, her rich, distinctive vocals a perfect match for evocatively personal lyrics. Similar in vibe to the idiosyncratic chamber pop of Aldous Harding or Kate Bush, the raw art rock PJ Harvey, and the long-form ambient of Grouper, Salmena approaches genre like a puzzle, her music a strangely beautiful amalgamation that feels immediate, intimate, and original.


Posted by Abbie Gobeli

NEWS : TUE, JUL 16, 2024 at 6:00 AM

White Roses, My God, the Debut Solo Album From Alan Sparhawk of Low, Is out September 27th

On September 27th, Sub Pop will release White Roses, My God, the debut solo effort from Alan Sparhawk. Though he’s obviously (and justifiably) best known for his thirty years in the legendary band Low, a look at Sparhawk’s many side projects across that same span of time shows him experimenting with everything from punk and funk to production work and improvisation. Low itself never settled for a set sound or approach. The band was always a collaboration—a conversation, a romance—between Sparhawk and his wife, Mimi Parker, who was the band’s co-founder, drummer, co-lead vocalist, and its blazing irreplaceable heart. Parker passed away in 2022 after a long battle with cancer.
 
There is no question that White Roses, My God is a record borne of grief. However, it would be reductive, even foolish, to see grief as the sole source or the final limit of this taut, brilliant, provocative, thrilling album, whose bold experimentation is powered by profound lyrics and propulsive beats. White Roses, My God is an exorcism whose purpose is not to banish the spirit but to set it free.
 
Recorded at 20 Below Studios in Duluth, MN, White Roses, My God was co-produced and engineered by Alan Sparhawk and Nat Harvie, mixed by Nat Harvie, and mastered by Heba Kadry. The album features standout singles “Get Still” and “Heaven,” alongside today’s release for the album’s pulsating debut offering, “Can U Hear,” the video for which was directed by Rick Alverson.
 
Alan Sparhawk’s tour schedule in support of White Roses, My God begins November 2nd, 2024, in Dublin, IE, at Opium and currently ends January 25th, 2025, in Denver at the Bluebird.
 
This announcement features a new, eight-date headlining run in the US (Jan. 13th-25th), which includes a stop at Brooklyn’s Elsewhere on April 5th. These shows will follow his previously announced 2024 dates— UK/EU headline dates (Nov. 2nd-5th), an appearance at Pitchfork Music Festival London at The Barbican with Jessica Pratt (Nov. 6th), and support dates with Godspeed You! Black Emperor (Nov. 8th-24th).
 
Additional live dates will be announced soon. Please find a current list of dates below.
 
Europe, Fall 2024
Sat. Nov. 02 - Dublin, IE- Opium
Mon. Nov. 04 - Leeds, UK - Brudenell Social Club
Tue. Nov. 05 - Wales, UK - Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
Wed. Nov. 06 - London, UK - the Barbican Centre, Pitchfork Music Festival $
Fri. Nov. 08 - Chicago, IL - Salt Shed #
Sat. Nov. 09 - Saint Paul, MN - Palace Theatre #
Mon. Nov. 11 - Lawrence, KS #
Tue. Nov. 12 - Fayetteville, AR - George’s Majestic Lounge #
Wed. Nov. 13 -  Nashville, TN - Basement East (TN) #
Thu. Nov. 14 - Knoxville, TN - Bijou Theater #
Fri. Nov. 15 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade #
Sat. Nov. 16 - Charleston, SC - Music Farm #
Sun. Nov. 17 - Saxapahaw, NC - The Haw River Ballroom #
Tue. Nov. 19 - Washington, DC - 930 Club #
Fri. Nov. 22 - Norwalk, CT - District Music Hall #
Sat. Nov. 23 - Boston, MA - Roadrunner #
Sun. Nov. 24 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer #
 
North America, January 2025
Mon. Jan. 13 - Fargo, ND - The Aquarium
Wed. Jan. 15 - Bozeman, MT - The Rialto
Fri. Jan. 17 - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile
Sat. Jan. 18 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios
Mon. Jan. 20 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
Fri. Jan. 24 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
Sat. Jan. 25 - Denver, CO - Bluebird
Fri. Apr. 02 - Brooklyn, NY - Elsewhere
 
$ Jessica Pratt
# Godspeed You! Black Emperor
 
White Roses, My God is available to preorder now from Sub Pop. LP preorders from megamart.subpop.com (North America), Mega Mart 2 (UK/EU), and independent retailers worldwide will receive the limited Loser edition on Clear vinyl (while stock lasts!).


Alan Sparhawk
White Roses, My God
 
Tracklisting:
1. Get Still
2. I Made This Beat
3. Not the 1
4. Can U Hear
5. Heaven
6. Brother
7. Black Water
8. Feel Something
9. Station
10. Somebody Else’s Room
11. Project 4 Ever

Posted by Abbie Gobeli

NEWS : MON, JUL 29, 2024 at 7:00 AM

Sub Pop Celebrates The 10th Anniversary of Shabazz Palaces’ Lese Majesty With a New, Limited Edition Pressing on Red With Black Vinyl

Today, July 29th, Sub Pop is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the release of Shabazz Palaces’ Lese Majesty, his acclaimed second album and the follow-up to his label debut Black Up, with a new repress on red and black vinyl.
 
Lese Majesty is a seven-suite, eighteen-track sonic mythmap of new black wave and ghetto psychedelics, featuring singles and official videos for “They Come In Gold,” “Ishmael,” “#CAKE” (directed by Hiro Murai), and “Forerunner Foray” (directed by Chad VanGaalen).
 
Lese Majesty features Shabazz Palaces leader Ishamel Butler alongside Black Constellation collaborators Tendai Maraire, THEESatisfaction’s Catherine Harris-White, Erik Blood and Thadillac. The album was produced by Shabazz Palaces and mixed by Blood at Protect and Exalt Labs in Seattle, Washington.
 
Upon its release, Lese Majesty earned raves from the likes of New York Times, NPR Music, Entertainment Weekly, FLOOD, All Music, and would go on to see placement on “Best of 2014” lists from the likes of Gorilla Vs Bear (“Album of the Year”), Pitchfork, PASTE, SPIN, The Wire, Passion of the Weiss, Stereogum (“Best Rap Albums”), and more.
 
Today, you can also hear two remixes from the Lese Majesty universe, “…down 155th in the MCM Snorkel (OCnotes 40 Acres and All the Grease Flip)” and “Major Winnings (OCnotes Pocket Full of Loaded Dice Remix).”
 
The new repress of Lese Majesty is available now to order from Sub Pop Mega MartMM2 (EU/UK) and independent retailers worldwide worldwide. 
 
Shabazz Palaces’ Robed in Rareness and Exotic Birds of  Prey, his companion releases from 2023 and 2024 respectively, are also available worldwide from Sub Pop
 
What people said about Shabazz Palaces’ Lese Majesty:
Lese Majesty is Shabazz Palaces getting interstellar, a set of intricate, enigmatic, yet meaningful suites complete with an (initially) impenetrable multidimensional blueprint/map connecting it all in the liner notes. Beneath the visuals, the album contends with a strain of Afrofuturism that puts its faith in finding unities in contradictions and clarity in riddles (“I’m having my cake and I’m eating cake,” “facts stated to enhance what is pre-born,” “we try to unreproduce six tension intervals”), reconciling structure and formlessness, forethought and spontaneity….meter-defying breaks and tactile, synthesized bass-church/musique concrète production that turns human language into primordial elements of cosmic influence. It’s humbling stuff that urges you to dance but knows full well that, to do so, you’ll need to relearn new and better steps [50 Best Albums Of 2014] - Pitchfork
 
“Unlike their previous, also brilliant full-length Black Up, Shabazz Palaces’ new “sonic move” Lese Majesty is not necessarily conducive to absorption in small doses. The record is a massive, dense monolith, divided into suites that only start to make sense after countless repeat listens. It’s a bridge from rap’s beginnings in the early ’70s into its future — structurally, thematically, lyrically, sonically, all of it — that sounds so many light years ahead of everything else in the genre that its nods to the past only reveal themselves after one invests real time immersed in what we called “the impossibly deep, singular astral landscape” that the group has created.” [Album of the Year]  - Gorilla Vs. Bear
 
“With their second album, Seattle hiphop duo Shabazz Palaces unshackled Afrofuturism from cliche in order to present a holistic almost familiar worldview that the future is already here, before demanding an honest response to that revelation. Hua Hsu said:  Abstraction is only useful insofar as it shakes our reliance and this is what makes Lese Majesty’s primal futurism such a bewildering experience. Palaceer raps with secularity and conviction as all that was once solid melts into air - rules and codes vanish, leaving nothing but ghosts while beats dissolve into pretty colors.” [#7 / Albums of the Year] - The Wire 



Shabazz Palaces
Lese Majesty
 
Tracklisting:
1. Dawn in Luxor
2. Forerunner Foray
3. They Come in Gold
4. Solemn Swears
5. Harem Aria
6. Noetic Noiromantics
7. The Ballad of Lt. Maj. Winnings
8. Soundview
9. Ishmael
10. …down 155th in the MCM Snorkel
11. Divine of Form
12. #CAKE
13. Colluding Oligarchs
14. Suspicion of a Shape
15. MindGlitch Keytar TM Theme
16. Motion Sickness
17. New Black Wave
18. Sonic MythMap for the Trip Back


Posted by Abbie Gobeli

NEWS : THU, AUG 8, 2024 at 7:00 AM

Jon Benjamin: Jazz Daredevil To Release The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of The (Unproduced) Film, The Jazz Daredevil Movie On August 15th

On August 15th, 2024, Sub Pop will release Jon Benjamin: Jazz Daredevil’s bold, forthcoming third album, The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of The (Unproduced) Film, The Jazz Daredevil Movie.
 
The Jazz Daredevil sets the scene:
Through ribbons of smoke, Jazz Daredevil walks across the small stage. He takes his place at the piano. Looking out, he clocks his small audience, most of whom talk amongst themselves. “This is my life,” he thinks to himself. It’s not a happy thought. At one table, a woman in sunglasses sits alone. “Is she as lost as I?” He counts in the trio, “one, two, one, two, three…” The Jazz Daredevil plays. He can’t play, though. It’s complicated. It’s the same feeling. That feeling of both freedom and failure. “There’s never nothing to lose” is the thought that crosses his mind, as he mindlessly hits random notes on the baby grand. He glances at the woman alone. ‘Can she change everything?’”
 
The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack… includes guest appearances from Therese Plaehn-Mirman, Wyatt Cenac, Alexis Kesselman, Larry Murphy, Ana Silvia Daniel, Leo Allen, Brendon Small, Ronnell Johnson, and Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The soundtrack was produced and mixed by Zachary Seman, and mastered by Levi Seitz at Blackbelt Mastering. Watch today’s first offering, the official video for “I Want You,” which stars Marin Ireland and is directed by Jason Woliner.
 
The album will be available on LP and all DSPs, and can be pre-ordered now from Sub Pop Mega Mart (North America), Bandcamp, and independent retailers in North America. LP preorders will receive the Loser Edition on silver vinyl, which is limited to 1,500 copies.
 
The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of the (Unproduced) Film, The Jazz Daredevil Movie follows his landmark 2015 debut Well I Should Have… Learned How to Play Piano, which garnered gushing coverage from people like Stephen Colbert and NPR’s “All Things Considered,” blew through two vinyl pressings, and is now a sought-after collectible; and the 2020 follow-up The Soundtrack Collection, arguably the first truly great collection of movie theme songs performed poorly with a Moog synthesizer and expertly by an orchestra at the same time.


Jon Benjamin: Jazz Daredevil
The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of The (Unproduced) Film, The Jazz Daredevil Movie
 
1. They All Say… (The Jazz Daredevil Theme)
2. The Proposition (Dialogue)
3. Apartment Fire (Instrumental)
4. Limo Ride (Dialogue)
5. Limo Ride (Instrumental)
6. Balcony (Dialogue)
7. I Want You
8. Truth or Dare (Dialogue)
9. Sex Scene Song (Instrumental)
10. Do You Want Half a Sandwich? (Dialogue)
11. I Got My Hook in You
12. Meeting Ray (Dialogue)
13. The Man in the Mask (Rich’s Theme)
14. Rita’s Plea (Dialogue)
15. Walk Through the Woods (Instrumental)
16. Don’t Go Through the Woods (Dialogue)
17. Murder Plot (The Caretaker’s Theme)
18. Who’s Rich? (Dialogue)
19. I Shoplift Even Though I’m Rich
20. How Do I Know You’re Telling the Truth (Dialogue)
21. The Twist (Instrumental)
22. Lorraine, No… (Dialogue)
23. They All Say… (Reprise)


Posted by Abbie Gobeli

NEWS : TUE, JUL 23, 2024 at 7:00 AM

Watch Naima Bock’s Official Video For “Gentle”

Last month, Sub Pop and Memorials of Distinction shared details on behalf of Naima Bock’s Below a Massive Dark Land, her forthcoming new album. Today, she’s sharing the official video for the wistful new single “Gentle.”
 
Naima says of the song and video, “I’ve lived with this song for a couple of years. It’s a kind of copy and paste of different sections of my life, each verse is a different version of myself or situation I was in. None of them link in reality, but they fit together in this song, which leaves me with a sense of union and satisfaction. I would like to allow for the listener to take the lyrics in whatever way is relevant to them. I can say it’s my favourite song to play and one of my favourite songs that I’ve written. It means a lot to me.”
 
Directors Ellie Wintour and Sophie Lincoln offer this, “Our jumping off point for the video began with the lyrics ‘You want me to be gentle, fragile, you want me to stay young. I pray that I stay gentle, fragile, I pray that I stay.’ We developed Naima a character playing on femininity as facade, but also her sense of easygoing style. In using two-dimensional substitutes for three-dimensional objects – mixing worlds of the real and make-believe – we tried to play on the song’s themes of expectation, assigned roles, and conformity.”
 
Naima will release Below a Massive Dark Land on September 27th, 2024, worldwide through Sub Pop and Memorials of Distinction. Below… is the follow-up to Giant Palm, one of 2022’s most critically acclaimed debuts.
 
Naima’s previously announced international tour dates for the summer and autumn of 2024 to support Below a Massive Dark Land begin Thursday, August 15th in St. Malo, France at La Route Du Rock and end Friday, December 13th in Paris at La Boule Noire. Along the way, Naima will perform solo (August 22nd-24th, September 8th-15th), as a duo with Oliver Hamilton (August 14th and November 6th), and with a four-piece band (November 7th-December 13th). Please find the dates below.
 
Thu. Aug. 15 - St. Malo, FR - La Route Du Rock +
Thu. Aug. 22 - Los Angeles, CA - Barnsdall Gallery Theatre ^
Fri. Aug. 23 -
 Los Angeles, CA - TBA
Sat. Aug. 24 - 
Ojai, CA - Greater Goods
Sep. 05 - Arcata, CA - The Miniplex
Mon. Sep. 09 - Portland, OR - Music Millennium (instore)
Fri. Sep. 13 - Walla Walla, WA - Billsville West
Sun. Sep. 15 - Seattle, WA - The Rabbit Box
Mon. Oct. 21 - Boston, MA - Warehouse X1
Wed. Oct 23 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
Side Chapel
Fri. Oct. 25 - Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool
Sat. Oct. 26 - Washington, DC - Rhizome
Wed. Nov. 06 - London, UK - St. Pancras Old Church +
Thu. Nov. 07 - Bristol, UK - Jam Jar *
Fri. Nov. 08 - Liverpool, UK - Leaf *
Sat. Nov. 09 - Newcastle, UK - Cumberland Arms *
Sun. Nov. 10 - Glasgow, UK - McChuills *
Tue. Nov. 12 - Leeds, UK - Hyde Park Book Club *
Wed. Nov. 13 - Manchester, UK - Deaf Institute *
Thu. Nov. 14 - Cambridge, UK - Storey’s Field Centre *
Sat. Nov. 16 - Falmouth, UK - The Cornish Bank *
Sun. Nov. 17 - Frome, UK  - The Tree House *
Mon. Nov. 18 - Exeter, UK - Cavern Club *
Wed. Nov. 20 - Ipswich, UK - St Stephens Church *
Thu. Nov. 21 - London, UK - The Ivy House *
Tue. Dec. 03 - Lille, FR - L ‘Aéronef *
Wed. Dec. 04 - Brugge, BE - Cactus Café *
Fri. Dec. 06 - Haldern, DE - Pop Bar *
Sat. Dec. 07 - Hamburg, DE - Nachstasyl *
Sun. Dec. 08 - Berlin, DE - Neu Zunkunft *
Tue. Dec. 10 - Cologne, DE - Subway *
Wed. Dec. 11 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso *
Thu. Dec. 12 - Brussels, BE -  Botanique *
Fri. Dec. 13 - Paris, FR - La Boule Noire *
 
^ Supporting Angelo De Augustine
* Full band show
+ Duo with Oliver Hamilton
 
Below a Massive Dark Land was predominantly produced by Jack Ogborne (Bingo Fury) and Joe Jones, and recorded at The Crypt in north London, with additional production and arrangement by Oliver Hamilton (caroline, Shovel Dance Collective) and Naima herself. Six of the tracks on Below… were mixed by Jason Agel, with the remainder done by Ogborne and Jones. The album was mastered by Kevin Tuffy.
 
Below a Massive Dark Land will be available on CD/LP/DSPs and is available now for preorder from Sub Pop/Memorials of Distinction. LP preorders from megamart.subpop.com (North America), Mega Mart 2 (UK/EU), and independent retailers worldwide will receive the limited Loser edition vinyl on Blue Jay (US) and the eco-friendly Yellow Bio (UK/EU) (All whilst stock lasts!). Naima also created the art for the Below… album cover.


Naima Bock
Below A Massive Dark Land
 
Tracklisting:
1. Gentle
2. Kaley
3. Feed My Release
4. My Sweet Body
5. Lines
6. Further Away
7. Takes One
8. Age
9. Moving
10. Star


Posted by Abbie Gobeli

NEWS : TUE, AUG 6, 2024 at 6:00 AM

The Bug Club Returns With the Suave, Action-Packed New Track “A Bit Like James Bond”

Today, The Bug Club is sharing “A Bit Like James Bond,” an exciting, debonair new song about everyone’s favorite British spy. The song is from On the Intricate Inner Workings of the System, their forthcoming album.
 
Last week, The Bug Club also announced the addition of US shows to their 2024 tour schedule in support of On the Intricate Inner Workings of the System. These new dates will begin Tuesday, October 15th in Brooklyn, NY at Baby’s All Right and run through Thursday, October 24th in Seattle, WA at The Black Lodge. Their previously announced UK tour dates, which bookend the US dates, continue on Thursday, August 29, with an instore at Brighton, UK’s Resident Records. Please see a current list of tour dates below.
 
Thu. Aug. 29 - Brighton, Resident Records (instore)
Fri. Aug. 30 - Brighton, UK - Brighton Psych Fest
Sat. Aug 31 - Hull, UK - The Adelphi
Sun. Sep. 01 - Edinburgh, UK - Edinburgh Psych Fest
Mon. Sep. 02 - Riley & Coe Session, BBC Radio 6 Music
Tue. Sep. 03 - Liverpool, UK - Rough Trade (instore)
Wed. Sep. 04 - Nottingham, UK - Rough Trade (instore)
Thu. Sep. 05 - London, UK - Rough Trade East (instore)
Tue. Oct. 15 - Brooklyn, NY - Baby’s All Right
Sat. Oct. 19 - San Diego, CA - Whistle Stop (5pm show)
Sun. Oct. 20 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo
Mon. Oct. 21 -  San Francisco, CA - Kilowatt
Wed. Oct. 23 - Portland, OR - Showbar
Thu. Oct. 24 - Seattle, WA - Black Lodge
Thu. Nov. 07  - Bournemouth, UK - Bear Cave
Fri. Nov. 08 - Margate, UK - Lido
Sat. Nov. 09 - Bedford, UK - Esquires
Wed. Nov. 13 - Newcastle, UK - The Cluny
Thu. Nov. 14 - Hebden Bridge, UK - The Trades Club
Fri. Nov. 15 - Leicester, UK - The SoundHouse
Sat. Nov. 16 - Norwich, UK - Norwich Arts Centre
 
Last month, The Bug Club announced release details for On the Intricate Inner Workings of the System, which will be released worldwide on Friday, August 30th, 2024. The album features the aforementioned “A Bit Like James Bond,” and previously released highlights “Quality Pints,” and “Lonsdale Slipons,” along with other feel-good ditties like “War Movies,” and “We Don’t Care About That.”
 
On the Intricate Inner Workings of the System sees the band serve up a beefy slab of their signature Modern-Lovers-meets-Nuggets garage rock, featuring B-52’s call-and-response fun mixed with AC/DC power chord grunt (read more at Sub Pop).
 
The Bug Club’s On the Intricate Inner Workings of the System is available to preorder on CD/LP/DSPs from Sub Pop. LP preorders from megamart.subpop.com (North America), Mega Mart 2 (UK/EU), and independent retailers worldwide will receive the limited Loser edition vinyl on Transparent Grey Smoke (US) and Orange/Red Marble (UK/EU) (whilst stock lasts!). On the Intricate Inner Workings of the System’s album cover artwork is from UK illustrator and comic book artist Willem Hampson.

 
What people are saying about The Bug Club:
On The Intricate Inner Workings Of The System… is lean and mean. Recorded with Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard’s Tom Rees at his Rat Trap studio in Cardiff, its 11 songs crackle with incisive melodies and funny pop culture-addled lyrics – they reference The Great Escape’s Virgil Hilts one minute, and move on to the horror of Lonsdale slip on daps the next – but they’re in and out in under 26 minutes. Zero fat.” - NME
 
“The full title of scrappy Welsh duo The Bug Club’s first album for Sub Pop is On the Intricate Inner Workings of the System By Means of Popular Music Or the Contemplation Of Pretty Faces, Tinned Bubbles and Strife which, as they note, is ‘long as fuck’ even it it doesn’t quite approach Fiona Apple length. It’s definitely the longest thing about the album which, like previous records, delivers two-minute DIY-punk blasts about mundane subjects (this time topics include beer and ‘the worst shoes in the UK.’).” 64 Albums We’re Anticipating For Summer 2024 - BROOKLYN VEGAN
 
“Throw back a few (and then a few more) to this great record of Modern Lovers meets Nuggets-garage rock…” [On The Intricate Inner Workings Of The System] Bandcamp
 
“‘Quality Pints’ is a wild two-minute rager that reminds me of the Buzzcocks and the Vaselines. It’s all about something the band has surely experienced during all that touring: the search for a decent beer in various cities around the world. In addition to the explosive punk-rock energy, the song has a hip-shaking rock ‘n’ roll element, manifested in a rattling tambourine and occasional outbursts of electric-shock lead guitar” STEREOGUM
 
“The amped-up punk track is a blast of shout-along energy, and vicious guitar solos following the pair’s journey to secure a solid pint of beer… It’s as ridiculous as it is fun, and Harris and Willmett are bringing their particular flavor of absurdity to Sub Pop’s legendary roster. Cheers, indeed.”  [“Quality Pints”]  “Best New Songs” - PASTE
 
“’Quality Pints’ vigorously extols the anticipatory pleasures of searching for good alcohol, but even a teetotaler like your blogger can get inebriated on its speed-demon rock. This is faster, punkier, and more immediately catchy than anything else in the Bug Club’s discography, with manic guitar solos that’ll make you spit out your lager in admiration. One senses that, if he were alive, another BBC DJ, John Peel, would love the Bug Club as much as he did the Fall. Let’s hope an album’s in the works.” The Stranger
 
“Lonsdale Slipons” is a post-punk supernova with an infectious bassline, satisfying dual vocals, and a great climax as Sam Willmett declares: “These drugs are tasty as hell! I think I’ll have another!” Listen below and slip on your Lonsdale slip ons and sway.” STEREOGUM
 
“This song is a ridiculous amount of fun and blends art rock and fun in a way that they rarely are. Personally, I hear a little more Strokes style guitar than AC/DC, but regardless ‘Lonsdale Slipons’ is going to insert itself into your brain and singing along to “These drugs are tasty as hell / I think I’ll have another” for days to come.”  If It’s Too Loud
 
“’Lonsdale Slipons’” is a throbbing container of mechanical riffs ready to erupt into chaos. “These drugs are tasty as hell!” Sam Willmett cries out. “I think I’ll have another!” Tilly Harris flicks a bassline that leaps out of the speakers after trading punches with Willmett’s guitar. It’s call-and-response soul music reconfigured into crooked-mouthed English post-punk.” “Best New Songs” - PASTE


The Bug Club
On The Intricate Inner Workings of the System
 
Tracklisting:
1. War Movies
2. Quality Pints
3. Pop Single
4. Best Looking Strangers in the Cemetery
5. A Bit Like James Bond
6. We Don’t Care About That
7. Lonsdale Slipons
8. Better Than Good
9. Actual Pain
10. Cold. Hard. Love.
11. The Intricate Inner Workings of the System

Posted by Abbie Gobeli