Wit and Riffs

Why The Bug Club has become a new favorite

Well, if you’re not into reading much past the title and subtitle of a piece, rest assured, I address the “why” posited in the subtitle of this post, in the title of this post. Thanks for reading! That’s about as concise as I’ve ever been!

But I’m going to ramble a bit longer anyway since I don’t have an editor to stop me. But yes, The Bug Club, the UK band that signed with the legendary Sub Pop label last year, is a band I’m not even sure how I stumbled over, but has consistently caught my attention when they pop up on shuffle in my mix. Why?

Wit and riffs, man. Wit and riffs.

Wit and Riff Rock should be a bonafide rock subgenre if you ask me. It’s not easy to be both wryly funny and to sound like you’re ready to blow the roof of the joint, but a few bands over the years have accomplished this feat.

There’s a bit of that in Pavement and Silver Jews, for sure. The Fugs, a generation prior, were pretty good at it, but they were a little bit more on the nose and political with their humor and less dry. I suppose They Might Be Giants could be tossed in there too. Their 1989 album Flood was so influential on my young musical mind. Funny and rocking? Absolutely!

But these aren’t meant to be comedy albums or parodies or to make fun of the genre. They don’t exist to deliver punchlines. Wit and Riff Rock is rock and roll first, and it’s the little dashes of word play and subtle metaphors that lift the songs into a playfully ecstatic realm that harkens back to us as younger beings and rock and roll as a younger genre.

It’s glorious, fun, occasionally a little dumb, but it makes you want to dance and smile. As John Prine, a master of witticism himself once said, “Ain’t hurtin nobody. Hurtin no one.” That’s not one of his wittier lines, but it speaks volumes still. In other words, sometimes the music is serious and message-laden, but sometimes it’s just fun. And that certainly ain’t hurtin’ no one, so I think it has a definite place.

Let’s give some concrete examples, shall we? And I’ll give them from two of the masters of the golden age of ironic, witty detachment. That’s right friends, find your pogs and throw on an unbuttoned flannel over that band tee because we’re taking it back to the ‘90s!

Beck - from the song, “Debra”:

I met you at JC Penney
I think your name tag said "Jenny"

There’s also the great line “lady, step inside my Hyundai.” There are so many great Beck lines. But the musicianship is there too. It’s not silliness for silliness sake. It’s serious music peppered with a sense of play.

Beastie Boys - from the song, “The Move”:

Dogs love me cause I'm crazy sniffable
I bet you never knew I got the ill peripheral

Also from this song,

“I don't mean to brag I don't mean to boast
But I'm intercontinental when I eat french toast.”

Come on now! What universe did the Beasties come from? Insane. So funny, but they were also masters of their craft. They could rap, they could rock, they could play their own instruments. They could do it all. RIP today and always, MCA.

It’s also worth noting and necessary in noting that Beck and The Beasties would not be who they became without black artists who were the originators of hip hop and rock and roll for that matter, that took musicianship and added layers of showmanship and one-ups-manship which were there for purposes of entertaining audiences, but also proving yourself as an original and worthy of the mic. Hip hop is FILLED with wit that can be sharp and biting as in its take down forms, or light and artistic, meant to showcase the skill of the MC or crew.

Both of these are a little less riff oriented and more wit oriented, but I want to emphasize what I like about this type of songwriting, as well, in a general sense. The humor isn’t hit-you-over-the-head-with-silliness style, but rather it sneaks up on you when it’s part of the fabric of a well crafted composition. When you read the titles, “Debra” or “The Move”, you don’t know what’s coming. But when a line hits just right, it hits. It’s thrilling and fun because it’s partially unexpected. No disrespect to The Master, Mr. Weird Al Yankovic, but his humor hits in a different way. You know it’s going to be silly. Still works? Yes of course, because it’s Weird Al! He’s the master of promising a punchline and delivering punchline after punchline. Put this man in the Rock Hall! I digress…

The Bug Club are from the UK. And there is a certain tradition of wry artistic sensibility that the Brits have always been known for. And there’s an appreciation for guitar rock that maybe doesn’t exist as widespread as it once did here in the ol’ US of A.

Combine it together, and you’ve got something masterfully throwback in sound and yet wonderfully timeless.

Here’s a great example of their brilliance, which makes me wonder if haircuts are just inherently sort of a funny topic that’s ripe for usage in rock and roll. Pavement pulled it off, and here we have The Bug Club with, “Short and Round”:

My Dad just had a really nice haircut
Short and round
My brothers and friends all have the same haircut
Short and round

It’s in the delivery too. Let’s face it. It’s hard to pull lyrics out of context and make them work the same way they do with the actual music and vocal intonation. Listen to the song. I think you’ll enjoy it.

They just released a new single called, “Have U Ever Been 2 Wales”, which uses the title in the lyrics and answers it with the lyric, “It is good.” Brilliant! Even more brilliant is that they already have a song called, “Better than Good”, that states, “You can’t get better than good.” So therefore, you can’t get better than Wales. I’m not sure if they intentionally set themselves up like that, but there’s something slyly funny about it. Is it just me? Am I hopped up on too much cold medicine?

Maybe it’s the male/female vocal interplay, but there’s something reminiscent here of the legendary Scottish band, beloved by Kurt Cobain, The Vaselines. Nirvana famously covered their songs, “Molly’s Lips”, “Son of a Gun” and “Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam”. But again, it’s all about simple, playful, melodic bits of fun with The Vaselines.

Wit and riffs, man.

And then I hear a song like, “War Movies”, where they list war movies like “Dunkirk” and “Patton” that they are watching “every night”, and it calls to mind “TV Party” by Black Flag, where much of the punk classic lists TV shows of the era they are watching because they have “nothing better to do”. It’s so mundane to just list things, but both songs are profoundly entertaining and funny in their own sneaky sort of way. Does that make sense? It’s really hard to tell when the cough syrup is driving the bus these days, friends. Stay healthy out there! Getting sick truly blows.

But anyhow, nothing ruins perfectly good Wit and Riff Rock like talking unendingly about Wit and Riff Rock. I made a playlist for ya, that I hope you’ll check out! Admittedly, I stretch the definition of my made up genre here, but I reserve the right to add some proto-witty and delightfully playful tunes that may not exactly meet my extremely vague criteria. Some have a lot of wit and only a few riffs. Some are more riff heavy with a smattering or wit.

In any case, I hope this type of music gives you as much joy as it gives me! Holy shit, we need joy wherever we can find it these days!

Take care, friends!

Support Local Music on 2/28!

You may have heard, but if you haven’t, let me be the first to tell you that there’s an economic boycott happening tomorrow to protest the president’s oligarchical, authoritarian, despicable agenda. No Amazon. No Wal-Mart. No Fast Food. No Credit Cards. Hit ‘em where it hurts! Their bottom line.

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Let me suggest a community-minded, local music friendly way to spend your evening tomorrow. Tonight, go to an ATM and take some cash out. Tomorrow, go visit your local record store and/or local music venue and support an indie musician or two. If you buy a beer or something, buy a local brewery’s offering. Avoid the macro-corporate machine for a day, and help your area micro economy. Point being, if you’re going to spend money tomorrow, support those who ACTUALLY need our support. Small actions make a big difference! We’re in this together!

Thanks for reading and be safe out there!