Buggirl

BugGirl are an Australian hard rock duo that are in the middle of a European tour and as Thor the Hammer God is my witness they rock the Walpole to its very foundations. The pair are tighter than a proverbial ducks arse in water and with the feisty vixen singer/guitarist BugGirl herself they have the epitome of an in-yer-face rock bitch that makes Brody Dalle look like tinkerbell.

AC/DC High octane rock riffing, classic 80s rock guitar solo’s behind the head, with an element of both Goth and metal they emerge from the shadows like a giant swamp monster. It’s the sound of Nick Oliveri pounding Jon Spencer’s head against a bass drum. They’ve made tonight their own.

Smash Music UK | Lee Puddefoot | www.smashmusic.co.uk/pole.htm - SmashMusic - UK

BUGGIRL combines the powers of the two siblings Amber and Clinno who have been successful for quite a while now under that moniker and amongst others toured with the likes of BLITZKID, V8WANKERS, HEARTBREAK ENGINES and THE CREEPSHOW.

BUGGIRL debuted in 2004 with ‘Looming Shadows’ followed by an EP in 2005 and a long tour. ‘Rock’n’Roll Hell’ is their next assault on the world-wide rock community.

Guess how surprised I was to hear that there are still bands around who play such a classic rock sound without even the slightest sign of an electronic influence?

Just the joined efforts of a brother and a sister, expressing their love for this music, and sometimes I can’t believe that all this energy just comes from two people.

And now we hurl ourselves right into the hail of bullets of the first track ‘Shootin’ Fire’, starting with a whirl of drums until wailing guitars rush in and front woman Amber bloody kicks ass with her feisty voice putting seasoned rock fronters in their places.

Just right in the footsteps, the title track follows and keeps the pace, whilst presenting an astonishing amount of masterfully played drum parts while the hard riffs almost make the speakers burst with their power.

“Take me down baby, take me home”, BUGGIRL sings in one part of ‘Ian Ashbury’ and one is tempted to do her the favour after such a performance ;-) After a rather slow start with pressing riffs the song gains momentum and you get to hear a vocal action that blows you away.

‘Death on Wheels’ does its name justice and takes no prisoners in sweeping everything out of the way that isn’t fast enough to get away from the drum avalanche the song puts up.

‘Resurrected’ on the other hand decelerates a bit and here and there a bit of a subtle darkness is shimmering through. More down-tuned riffs and a solo in the background I can only describe as ghostly, it’s brilliantly played though and I have to say that Amber handles the clean vocals very well. I especially came to love how she’s pronouncing the ‘Resurrected’ with an original British/Welsh accent.

Now let’s come to ‘Hot Tonite’ to which you just have to bang your head til madness comes. At least as long as the fast tempo prevails, that is just dropping all of a sudden to make way for a slower but nevertheless powerful performance.

Speaking of slow, the next track is just that and in case I didn’t mention it: I love this voice. She’s screaming you into the ground on ‘Get Picked Up’, the guitars screech and melt with the vocals and the drums to a furious finale of the track.

I just have to give credit to the drummer again as what he’s delivering on ‘You’ll Love it in here’ is just brilliant.

‘Suck it’ is just a straight classy track that gets the most punch out of the impressing vocal parts in my opinion.

The finale ‘War & Fire’ is the epitome of the term varied. There’s lots of rhythmic and tempo shifts, breaks and some of the coolest guitar solos are united on this track.

Classic rock albums didn’t catch me very often, but this one did. Took me a few listens to get into it, then I got carried away by the power and the verve this duo displays. A very nice and varied album you should really check out...

Rating

Music: 8
Sound: 8
Total: 8

Reflections Of Darkness | Sebastian Huhn | http://www.reflectionsofdarkness.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3549&Itemid=44 - Reflections Of Darkness - GERMANY

Call'em the down-under White Stripes if you must, but this Aussie brother-sister duo's high-voltage rock'n'roll bears scant resemblance to the stripes' relatively sedate garage-rattle. Comprised of BugGirl on vocals/guitar and bro Mallets of Mayhem on battery, they sound like Janis fronting Cream on a blood-slicked night of the long knives. They've been at it since the early 00's and have just hit their stride. Oh, and this song is about the dude in The Cult. What else?
Bonus fun fact: BugGirl's favourite meal is blue kangaroo carcass. Who knew they had a blue version?

From 2008's Rock N' Roll Hell (Cargo)'

TNT Dynamite New Music | Classic Rock Magazine November 2008 | http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/ - Classic Rock Magazine November 2008

It is claimed that BugGiRL is a counterpart to the White Stripes with the difference that the latter sees its roots in Led Zeppelin whereas the Australian duo BugGiRL, of course, claims AC/DC as reference. The musical brother-sister duo BugGiRL, made up of Amber (guitar, vocals) and Clinno (vocals, drums) is correct in terms of their snootiness - one can also detect an immense rawness which reminds one of Rose Tattoo. Whatever the comparison, it remains Australian. The duo presents ten intense tracks with old school rock'n'roll flair and seems to have had a good time recording in the studio. An overwhelming joy in playing can be sensed in every second, and it must make BugGiRL a most convincing live-act. It has turned Rock n' Roll Hell (RnRH) into a very authentic, dirty, and across the board successful album.

Other influences to be named are obviously The Cult - the track Ian Astbury is not there for no reason - but also early Motley Crue and Motorhead can be detected when going on the RnRH journey. Amber with her extremely boozy sounding voice can pass for a modern version of the unfortunately deceased Janis Joplin and is thus the definite center of the formation. Brother Clinno is mainly responsible for a perfect, thick rhythm. It will be interesting to watch if BugGiRL can follow the cited White Stripes footsteps business-wise - personally, I am more impressed with the Australian duo as their version of rock'n roll is simply more honest and earthy sounding. - Underground Empire - GERMANY

I’ve always had a special preference for rock’n roll duos, so the ‘BUGGIRL’ CD got showed into my player with positive bias, and the sound booming out of the speakers confirmed this (bias) at any rate. This Australian pair snots out filthy riffs and even filthier lyrics. The lack of a bass makes the whole thing sound fragile in parts, but this sound, together with those pig-dirty riffs and the macho lyrics performed by a woman, creates a pleasurable suspense. It ends with a ‘true metal hymn’ which sounds like Janis Joplin covering’ MANOWAR’. A most interesting, highly recommended album. You wanna fight? - Let's Rock'n'Roll! (42:26) (9) (Simon Loidl)

Ox-Fanzine / Ausgabe #73
http://www.ox-fanzine.de/reviews/rid/56950/ftcol/buggirl/rock_nroll_hell_cd.23.html - Ox Fanzine - GERMANY

Today’s review comes all the way from the outback of Australia. Putting a new twist on the power trio by performing as a power duo, BugGiRL are to AC/DC what the White Stripes are to Led Zeppelin. They have taken the music and stripped it to its most basic elements: a single guitar and drums. The resulting sound is bare, raw rock and roll.

From the band’s Web site: “Fueled on a daily diet of Blue Kangaroo carcass, and flooring four to the floor, Australian Rock n’ Roll Warriors BugGiRL deliver a brand of rock that cracks through the burnt earth of their barren homeland. Following the dusty footsteps of their rockin’ ancestors AC/DC, Rose Tattoo, and The Divinyls, BugGiRL are a band of attitude, guts, and glory.”

Smashmusic UK said, “The pair are tighter than a proverbial duck's arse in water and with the feisty vixen singer/guitarist BugGiRL herself they have the epitome of an in-yer-face rock bitch that makes Brody Dalle look like Tinkerbelle.”

BugGiRL and drummer Mallets of Mayhem came together in late 2003, earning their stripes in the Sydney rock scene. They landed tracks on various compilation disks featuring Australian rock bands, and toured incessantly. By November 2004, they were ready to unleash their debut album, Looming Shadows. The single, “Suck It,” (full title: “Suck It Fuck It Like A Bitch From Hell”) was promptly banned from radio, but, as they say, any publicity is good publicity.

Earlier this year, BugGiRL released their second full-length album, Rock n’ Roll Hell. The songs available on BugGiRL’s site (unfortunately, the album isn’t yet available in the U.S.) are a manic combination of blues and punk. And in a must-hear moment, they cover “If I'm in Luck I Just Might Get Picked Up,” by 70’s soul seductress Betty Davis.

BugGiRL are currently on tour in Europe. Mallets of Mayhem assures me they are eventually coming to the States – at least to California – but as of now, there are no definite dates set. Those of you in Europe can check show dates here or at BugGiRL’s MySpace space. There’s also mucho mas music in both places.

Eric Aikin | Licorice Pizza | California, USA | http://licorice-pizza.blogspot.com - Licorice Pizza - USA

A real hardrockster, IRON MAIDEN shirt, leather pants and biker boots. Classic look you spot easily on any metalfest...but when this fury is armed with a guitar and she clearly knows how to use it...that changes
matters..She had an accordingly furious drummer to back her up. I don't know what they feed 'em in australia but in any case the bush-air seems to be quite energizing... Although BUGGIRL seems to be inspired a lot by AC/DC they have a big difference that cannot be denied...
why have 4 members if it works with 2?! Sure thing, it doesn't lack 'em of energy! HIGH VOLTAGE !

Frédéric Loridant | PhotoRock | Lille, FRANCE | http://www.photorock.com/kingautomatic/ - PhotoRock - FRANCE

"BUGGIRL" . A duo rock band from Australia! A smashing female on guitar and vocals and a four-handed man on drums! The result is a pure rock and raw sound, melodic or hard, soft or razor sharp,when needed, but always ROCK! As taken from the bands official web site: ""Fueled on a daily diet of Blue Kangaroo carcass, and flooring four to the floor, Australian Rock n’ Roll Warriors BugGiRL deliver a brand of rock that cracks through the burnt earth of their barren homeland. Following the dusty footsteps of their rockin’ ancestors "AC/DC", "ROSE TATTOO" and "THE DIVINYLS", "BugGiRL" are a band of attitude, guts and glory".Well, who exactly the duo are, I mean their names, I dont know.

The band are Ms Buggirl herself on vocals and guitar and drummer Mallets Of Mayhem. They came together in 2003 making live shows and having songs in various disc compilations around Australia. In 2004 they release their debut album called:"LOOMING SHADOWS", which recieved good credits at least in Australia as far as we know.

This year "BUGGIRL" have released their second full length album called:"ROCK'N'ROLL HELL". This album seems heavier than the first and a bit into the punk sound and in the modern demand of rock music industry, but keeping the power of the rock duo straight and clean. Please remember that they have taken the music and stripped it to its most basic elements: a single guitar and drums!!! And that my friends is the base of rock'n'roll !!!

The album is not avaliable everywhere yet, but you can listen to it on our "on line radio", here at Rock Aces.

Dimitris Katramados | Rock Aces | Greece | http://www.rockaces.com/albumreviews2007.php - Rock Aces - GREECE

Slogging away throughout the night on the restaurant stage are Australians BUGGIRL. The duo (a Woman on guitar and mic, a guy on drums and backing) has balls three times the size of any other band on the cramped downstairs stage, making the rest sound like civil servants. They make up a lack of bass with immense enthusiasm.

Rock Hard Magazine Germany December 2008 | Jan Jaedike - Rock Hard Magazine Germany

The Powder Monkeys beat them to the title but that probably won't faze Wollongong, Australia, brother-and-sister duo BugGIRL who drop this five-song bomb with all the confidence of Enola Gay's pilot over Hiroshima. It's fast 'n' nasty, shoot-from-the-hip, metallic speedrock with all the subtlety of a migraine.

And that's the way you'll probably like it if you're at all well disposed to this sort of stuff. The Buggers don't so much wear their hearts on their sleeves as have MRI scans of their tickers and upload the pictures to Facebook with privacy settings turned off. If you can't work out what's going down with song titles like "V8 Motor", "Motor City Lover" and "Fire Highway" you're probably a Barry Manilow fan.

Produced by well-credentialled Mark Optiz (Cold Chisel, AC/DC) the EP's an obvious play to the guys (they almost always are) that occupy the front row of concerts all round the world with hands raised in devil's head gestures that are permanent enough to induce Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. I'd rather they did that than raise lighters or iPhones, which remind me of REO Speedwagon. All things considered, BugGIRL have more in common with REO Speed Dealer.

Vocalist-guitarist Amber Spence has a voice that would drop a row of crows from a telegraph line at 100 metres. This weapon is turned to "stun", while she wields her guitar like a powerdrill in a cheap splatter movie. Your stereo will probably be flecked with blood halfway through. Brother and drummer Clinton has this backbeat thing down to a fine art. He doesn't rely on a lot of flash but nails his kit to the floor.

Many two pieces struggle for the lack of a bottom end. BugGIRL ploughs through their work regardless, but a duo playing that way outside of the garage rock framework does initially take some listening adjustments.

BugGIRL's songs - or at least the five here - don't strike me as special with "V8 Motor" and "Fire Highway" the pick. "Bad Blood" doesn't go many places but does give Amber in particular a chance to show off. I'm willing to believe the best tunes have been saved for the impending album. - The Barman (24/08/09) - i94 Bar, Australia