How this band is not a household name is absolutely mind-boggling. What began as a New Jersey based solo project in 2018 really stepped on the gas once Covid lockdowns kicked in. The only time I was lucky enough to catch this band live was in a dingy basement in New Brunswick, NJ. It was early into people starting to travel playing music again in a post-Covid world and I was so thankful that I had my mask handy when glancing around the basement and noticing the crumbling asbestos wrapped pipes looming within the ceiling joists of the mildew reeking bacteria pit hosting the gig. Had I been warned about any sort of health risks, I still would have surely rolled the dice in order to experience my first exposure to JUG. Not just a garage-punk band, JUG & THE BUGS find a way of incorporating aggressive punk aspects as well as off-kilter herky-jerky, DEVO-esque riffs without the synths. When I saw them live I was referring to them to anyone who would listen as sounding like CONDOMINIUM if they were a garage-punk band. I’m not entirely sure if that assessment makes any sense, but to me it made all the sense in the world. I bought every release the band had with them that night, which was something like 5 different cassettes. While those stayed in heavy rotation, when 80 Grit came out in limited quantities I knew I needed more. Thankfully I took the plunge as this is the bands best output to date. A ten song full-length recording comprised of 9 originals and a CARS cover. From the first song you’re gonna be hooked. Effortlessly meandering through so many different little sub-genres within the greater punk and rock-n-roll umbrellas, JUG shows some serious versatility in the range on these tracks. There are moments where they start to get a little too out there, jamming on repetitive catchy riffs for long enough that you really start to notice it, yet somehow it never gets too lost in acid freak out territory so much that it doesn’t instantly yank you back to whatever reality this is. It is borderline criminal that with this many releases JUG & THE BUGS have not made the leap to vinyl yet. Something must be done about that. If any aspects of this review sound remotely up your alley, you owe it to yourself to check this release out, and get ready to dive down the hole cause there are many more to crack into once you’re fully engrossed with THE BUGS.

Label: Keeper Records

Band: JUG & THE BUGS