【ワケあり特価】Bug on Yonkers

Bug on Yonkers came about when the dude behind the synth-punk-prog project Damaged Bug John Dwyer hit a bit of a slump while trying to come up with songs for a new record. Not a problem one might expect the leader of one of the most prolific bands ever, Oh Sees, to have, but he found himself at a loss. As an exercise, he turned to the songs of one of his musical heroes, Michael Yonkers, and decided to record some of his favorites, mostly dipping into Yonkers late-60s classic Microminiature Love but also exploring some other trippy and weird avenues along the way. Listening to the work of both Yonkers and Dwyer, its easy to pick out the commonalities, like unexpected song structures, barely contained passion, a disregard for the status quo, and a unique lyrical viewpoint. One big difference between the two iconoclasts is in the way Dwyer and this edition of Damaged Bug (which includes keyboardist Tomas Dolas, drummer Nick Murray, and longtime Dwyer cohort Brigid Dawson) tackle the songs with a fierceness and power that Yonkers couldnt quite generate. Yonkers songs are slippery and sound unrehearsed when he recorded them; here they come to life in the hands of some of the most intense, sure-handed musicians currently playing. Unlike previous Damaged Bug albums, the synths and electronic gadgets are folded into the overall attack more organically, so much so that for the first time there is considerable overlap with Oh Sees. The synths here are still quite prominent, though, with Dolas and Dwyer seemingly intent to wrench the gnarliest sounds possible out of them at all times. The tones generated on the garage rock howler I Tried sound like Satans alarm clock, the bass waves on Sold America are so heavy that if they were sold by the pound only the one percent could afford them, and the oscillators on Lovely Gold sound like they were cooked up in a tornado. When sounds this extreme are paired with Dwyers screaming guitar solos and over-the-top vocalizing, then hammered to the ground by Murrays boulder-sized drums, it gets really heavy really fast. Microminiature Love is a nasty slice of haunted metal worthy of Black Sabbath, The Thunder Speaks has all the rippling power of Oh Sees at their best, and Smile a While is joyous, wacked-out psychedelic insanity. The band also take a short excursion into Yonkers more pastoral side, drifting on clouds of bells and saxes on the stoned-beyond-belief ballad Sunflower and ending the album with the pleasantly droning In My Heart. The record works as a tribute to the music of Michael Yonkers, hopefully inspiring anyone who isnt familiar with his work to do some investigating, while also providing Dwyer with the creative boost and general head clearing he needed. Best of all, its a blast of an album that fuses whats great about Damaged Bug and Oh Sees into one giant behemoth of sound and vision thats impossible to ignore. ~ Tim Sendra