Bugs in the Dark

Bugs in the Dark have a deliciously assaultive new record, Hang It on the Wall, just out... like the bastard child of Siouxsie Sioux, peak-era Throwing Muses and late-period Sleater-Kinney. - New York Music Daily

Bugs in the Dark sounded like a haunted Middle Eastern version of Sonic Youth crossed with My Bloody Valentine, with defiant, pissed-off vocals, scorched-earth guitars and gargantuan drums. What a fun discovery. - Lucid Culture Blog

Bugs in the Dark can do what all those post-punk revivalists did five years ago by prettying up the raw material of their era of choice, which for these guys is early 90s alternative/noise...go to their Myspace for a sweltering track called “Ave M” that builds into something Sonic Youth should have put out on Dirty to break out into that post-Nevermind alt-rock hype machine, if James Iha had been behind the recording console doling out harmonic minor scales and ignominious advice. Oh well. Too bad for SY, it’s 2008 and Bugs in the Dark are doing it now. - Impose Magazine

Bugs in the Dark
Two girls, a guy and ... some art-rocking goodness. This three-piece Brooklyn outfit warms you with familiar sounds of Sleater-Kinney. I don't want to pigeon hole them by dropping a whole ton of names, so I'll stick to what I like about them. Karen Rockower's vocals are lo-fi and rough, and I mean that as a complete compliment. The dueling guitars and crashing drums just add to the snottiness of the whole affair and to be honest, something about hearing her saying she watch to punch a girl in the mouth that makes me happy.

They just put out their debut 4-song EP and with this kind of music, it's best not to talk about it too much. Instead, just sit back, turn it up and enjoy - especially the guitar heavy groove and double vocals on New Words. - HeroHill.com

Apocalyptic rock perpetrators Bugs in the Dark are one of the most awesomely tense indie bands in NYC…The future of New York City music. - Paolo De Gregorio

"The future of New York City music."
- Paolo De Gregorio

“Still lamenting the loss of indie rock band Sleater-Kinney? Try Brooklyn band Bugs in the Dark, a similarly inspired punk trio."
- Chicago Mag.com

A band making some SERIOUS noise with obvious potential. Brooklyn’s Bugs in the Dark have no time for sleepy-eyed, middle of the road, groan along, pseudo-rock anthems - they’re too busy delivering ferocious, sweaty punk, fueled by sledgehammer drums and mean dueling guitars...Highly Recommended for fans of classic power-punk trios such as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Sleater Kinney. - Nev

Bugs in the Dark is a band that not only can turn noise into an art form; they are fun too. Their album, Grand Avenue, is piercing and unique. The band stars Karen Rockower on vocals /guitar, Zach Glass, vocals/guitar and Julia Lomax as drummer. Their expression is direct, their music is amplified, and quite simply - this rock band rules.
We start off with the tune, “Paranoia”, which is deliberately mad, and totally lives up to its name. Their sound, which is a bit heavy, disjunct, and strung together with dueling guitars, is cemented well in the opener. I like this song, but I wouldn’t call it the best on their album. However, their video of this song featured on their MySpace page is amazing. Check it out.
Next we have “Gasoline”, a song that is clever and takes you to a place where all hate to be, low on gas money. The tightly twined experimental guitar riffs are smartly combined with Karen’s voice via loud speaker. I love it when she starts screaming “Ride a Bike, Ride a Bike” in this strict authoritarian voice. Like in “Paranoia”, Karen’s voice is warped to do a variety of styles, her voice is invigorating and she is more than just a punky noise maker. She can be soft, then direct and then take you off guard, almost sounding like a completely different person.
The third track, “Ave M”, starts off a little chilling and slow, but the end accelerates into a whirling dervish of a frenzy bringing on a perfect balance. Zach Glass does the lead vocals and his intonations kind of sound a bit like Kurt Cobain. Ave M has a lot of energy, and it is great to see the band not only experiment sonically, but also see them switch up the lead vocals.
“Miles of Stone”, the next song on the album, is a beautiful piece of work. Lyrically, this song is incredibly moving. Please note, I wrote the words “I love” in my binder when hearing this for the first time. “Miles of Stone” is different, slower, and alchemizes the band into something deeply provoking. The lyrics, ” All of the nights, all of them wasted, the golden rings, the tears that I have tasted, the smoke at the road, miles of stone” to me, are flawless. Ok, so maybe I gave it away already, but this my favorite song on the album. So, listen to it!
Now we are hitting up the fifth track, “Attention”, which is pure agitation come alive with a rock edge. I love when Karen screams, “I’m not your shrink!”. Seriously, I have probably said everything in this song in one way or another. This song is cool and exhibits the band’s ability to write music about common minutia that usually gets overlooked by sweeping themes.
The final song on the album, “Aaron”, is a knife wielding piece that is divided into a few parts that flow into each other. It starts off with this deep, think metal guitar riff combined with a soft floating voice and than breaks out into the mantra-like “..on the phone no words were spoken”. Bugs in the Dark truly puts a pit in your stomach with this tune. Things are then sped along with the layering of the explosive coda “Will you let me break your heart again” while returning to the original sound of the opener. It is just a great song. I do not know when it was written, but for me I picture that this song was put to paper after a night of drinking and a realization that one got screwed…and not in that good way (haha).
Bugs in the Dark have been compared to the likes of Sleater-Kinney, Blonde Redhead and Sonic Youth. If you find yourself into these styles, this band is something you need to try out. I have heard from fellow MNL people (Bob) that they are incredibly awesome live. Possibly considered abrasive for some, in their experimental scene they are on top of their game. I give Grand Avenue a 4 out of 5 and I 100% recommend that you look up their videos on My Space too. There is something endearing with a band pushing the boundaries while maintaining the ability to not take themselves too seriously. Bugs in the Dark makes more than a statement; they are revolutionizing a genre. - Victoria

Brooklyn's Bugs in the Dark are playing Southpaw on Friday. This should be a wild night because, in addition to Bugs in the Dark, Rahim (Frenchkiss Records) is also playing on the bill. Tickets are only $8.00 and Bugs in Dark are supposed to go on at 8:30PM sharp.

For anyone not familiar with Bugs in the Dark, they have an "art-punk" sound that falls somewhere between the Pylon, The B-52s and X. The band has a male and female guitarist and both sing on some of the tracks which emphasize the X and B-52s comparisons. On the other tracks where guitarist/vocalist Karen Rockower takes lead vocals, the vocal stylings are closer Vanessa Briscoe Hay (Pylon) but the lyrical content is more comparable to Courtney Love ("Hot Shit, She's too rich, She has a big mouth, I want to punch it out").

The band just released a 4-song EP which is available through CD Baby and all four tracks are streaming on the band's MySpace page. If you take a look at the band's MySpace page, you will see that they have done a lot of cross-country touring this year and, based on the live pictures and reviews that are also on the band's MySpace page, Bugs in the Dark look like a lot of fun live. - Brooklyn Mike

WTF, when did Sleater - Kinney get back together?! And when did a dude join the band? Oh, wait. That's Bugs in the Dark we're listening to. - Mark Asch

"Bugs in the Dark are doing their best to fill the void left by
Sleater Kinney and the Pixies...Surprisingly, they're doing a bang-up
job." - Mark Asch

"If your live music itch gots ta be scratched, best bet is YYYs-ish Bugs In The Dark!" - Badmintonstamps.com - Philabuster