Bizarre To Say The Least

Damaged Bug “The Frog”

Damaged Bug is John Dwyer from Thee Oh Sees. The difference between the two projects is that Thee Oh Sees is more of a traditional rock band where he plays electric guitar, and Damaged Bug is more of a studio band where he plays synthesizers. There is otherwise not that much difference between the two – Dwyer’s melodic sensibility is the same, though I think keyboards bring out the best in him, at least in terms of writing melody. Dwyer straight up mimics Silver Apples and Can in a few Damaged Bug songs and I love him for that, but I’m most excited by a song like “The Frog,” which I think could’ve easily been a guitar-based Oh Sees tune, but in this form benefits from the odd neon ambience of these droning synth tones. It’s a very cartoonish sound contrasting with a song that feels more earthy, so the overall compositions exists in some implied uncanny valley between those two extremes.

Buy it from Amazon.

Ratboys “MCMXIV”

“MCMXIV” is a travelogue song, with Julia Steiner jotting down bits of experiences and observations in a trip through the midwest. It doesn’t really add up to a coherent narrative, but there’s an emotional through line in the chorus – “I had no idea what to think about you / you had no idea how much I needed you.” The whole song is built around that sort of confusion, of knowing a feeling is incredibly powerful and important, but not really having a sense of what that feeling actually is. The feeling of dislocation makes the emotional experience more literal – moving through space with purpose, but not connected to it at all. Just passing it by, taking in it, and letting it sink in later on.

Buy it from Bandcamp.