1,251 THE BUG CLUB, Holiday Ghosts, Reading Face Bar, Thursday 3rd November 2022

 Set-list courtesy of Beef from the previous night’s Bristol gig - the set was exactly the same, with encores of We Don’t Need Room For Lovin’ and Hammerman. Cheers Beef!

Never let it be said I don’t listen to my mates… well, eventually, anyway! I’d received multiple recommendations this year from the likes of Peej and Ben, Beef, Stuart and Andy to check out young South Walian indie types The Bug Club, so I finally got my shit together and did as I was told! Liked what I heard too; simple but naggingly insistent, catchy and hooky upbeat indiepop tuneage, short and snappy, played in a ramshackle but robust DIY style overlaid with wry, witty lyrics – mainly about space! – and a laconic, deadpan vocal delivery. Lots of intriguing reference points in their sound (bits of Swell Maps here, Super Furrys there, They Might Be Giants elsewhere, and a whole lot of current US faves Cheekface too), so I snapped up both CDs and a ticket to join Peej and Ben for a jaunt down to Reading on their current tour!

 I did the driving so picked up the boys and hared it down an already inky black M4, getting stuck in the A4 roadworks leading into Reading but easily retracing my steps from my only previous trip to The Face Bar (February 2018, gig 1,070 for the late lamented Inheaven). The car park wasn’t as expensive as I’d recalled either, although I was a little confused when we hit the venue, as I didn’t recognise the room configuration: Inheaven had played in the smaller, sideways room! This wider, low-ceilinged Fleece-sized room was sparsely attended when openers Holiday Ghosts kicked off at 8; a 4-piece of 3 mop-headed nodding dog indieblokes on guitars backed up with a heavy-on-the-floor-tom pounding female drummer/ singer, their first couple of numbers sounded disturbingly trad Country/ Western, and whilst the set improved into more jangly pop/ C86 territory, and featured a smattering of decent numbers (a jerky, new wavey “Total Crisis”, a mid set drum dominated galloping number recalling Orange Juice’s classic “Simply Thrilled Honey” and a later, more urgent and punkier “Bright Lights Big City”), they didn’t really float my boat, coming across predominantly like Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever’s reserve team. At 40 minutes, a bit of a drag too… 

Beef, Stuart, Andy and his partner Mandie had turned up during their overlong set, so we enjoyed some between-band banter before splitting up to find decent viewing spots in this now much fuller venue. Stu and I inveigled ourselves into a house left spot near the front, leaning against the speaker stack as the 3-piece Bug Club took the stage at 9 and eased into the laid-back Richmanesque whimsy of “Little Coy Space Boy” and “My Baby Loves Rock’N’Roll Music” (even the song titles paying homage to Richman!), followed in short order by a slightly harder-edged “Fixer”, a brightly galloping “Only In Love” (the leadoff track on the new album “Green Dream In F #” and one of my favourites, at this early stage) and a slower burn, very deadpan and Cheekface-like “6 O’Clock News”, the bearded main vocalist/ guitarist Sam Willmett being joined by bassist Tilly Harris for the repetitive perpetual canon hook. At this early stage they were rattling through their largely short and sweet numbers at a quickfire pace, although their actual performance seemed a little understated and low-key, polite even, with Willmett’s vocals often a low and indecipherable mumble. Ironically, the summery pastoral slow-burn of “My Guy”, featuring some lovely choral harmonies from Willmett and Harris, heralded an upturn in the set, for me at least… the jolly, effervescent “Sitting On The Rings Of Saturn” was a singalong delight, “Checkmate” saw Willmett coax some impressive, almost Hendrix-like psych-riffery from his guitar (despite their records so far giving the impression of having been thrown together haphazardly at the last minute, the band were all impressively proficient players), and the buoyant Harris engaged the crowd in some Christmas chat before “Christmas Lullaby”.

By now, they were in full swing, delivering an impressive and considerably more dynamic end to their set, with “Intelectuals” (“for smart people,” Harris flippantly noted) a rockier Stereolab metronome, a singalong “Going Down” recalling BMX Bandits with its lazy yet clever melody, “Love Is A Painting” bouncy and spritely, and “Love Song” a frantic headlong dash to a cacophonous denouement, ending a set which crept in unobtrusively but roared to a conclusion. The creepy Munsters bass and extended drum workout of encore “Hammerman” ended the night on a high too. Lists went quickly, so we filed out and headed off, satisfied with an ultimately fine performance from an intelligent new jangly pop band to file next to Kiwi Jr., Rolling Blackouts, Cheekface et al. So, to quote Big Star, “Thank You Friends” for the recommendation!