Review | The Bug Club at The Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea: "Packing a ridiculous amount of earworms"

​Now I love a rocking, lo-fi indie band as much as the next fan of rocking, lo-fi indie bands, but I couldn’t see what others were raving about.

However, I was assured that in the live arena was where they’re really at.

I had missed then when they were at The Wedgewood Rooms a year ago, but they were back again already, and those who were at both assure me the crowd this time around was definitely bigger – not far from sold out, in fact.

Despite the venue being packed, it seemed to take a while for the crowd to warm up, but as the numbers pile up (and the beers, perhaps?) so the audience begins to loosen up.

The trio’s songs buzz by at a fair clip – the entire set is an impressive-sounding 21 songs, but lasts only just over an hour.

There is a naive charm to their material – the subject matter seems to range from wry social commentary to the daft, such as, “this song’s about clapping in time. It’s called ‘Clapping’.” Amazingly it fails to get the audience, erm, clapping.

Sam Willmett on guitar and Tilly Harris on bass share lead vocal duties, and there is a level of musicianship that I hadn’t appreciated on record.

The two often leave their respective mics to jam face-to-face, centre-stage, clearly revelling in their musical chemistry. Such is their joy in these moments, Harris has to hare back across the stage on more than one occasion, picking up her vocals in the nick of time.

But the two at the front couldn't do this without being firmly grounded by drummer Dan Matthew at the back.

Musically, this three-piece from south Wales manage to find a sweet-spot between ’70s classic rock and the kind of American alternative rock like Dinosaur Jr and Sebadoh. They manage to pack a ridiculous amount of earworms into each blast of a song – the riffs and solos pour out of Willmett.

And yes, about halfway through the set, something clicked.

I guess you could call me a convert, and I will more than happily come back and party again at The Bug Club.