BRISBANE indie band Bugs have been gathering fans and momentum in the underground for the past eights years, but Cooties could be the moment they scuttle into the mainstream.
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Album No.3, and their first release with industry support, is unashamedly pop. Frontman and chief songwriter Connor Brooker knows how to orchestrate a hook and he's not holding anything back on Cooties.
Diamond and In The Middle (of it) feature big singalong choruses straight from the early 2000s pop-punk playbook written by the likes of The Androids and Wheatus. Coming To Get Me is another made-for-radio moment led by a soaring harmony.
READ MORE: Bugs hoping to catch on with Cooties album
Mars & Venus is the album's most tender moment as Brooker sings about toxic masculinity with, "If men are from Mars and girls are from Venus/ Then I'd be much happier without a penis/ Cos my self-righteous virtue-signalling completes it/ I suppress so much more than just thoughts and true feelings."
After several years of promising to breakthrough, Cooties is the catchiest we've ever heard Bugs. They're ready to step up.
4 stars
Josh Leeson
Josh Leeson is an entertainment and features journalist, specialising in music, at the Newcastle Herald. He first joined the masthead in 2008 after stints at the Namoi Valley Independent and Port Stephens Examiner and has previously covered sport including the Asian Cup, A-League, Surfest, cricket and rugby league.
Josh Leeson is an entertainment and features journalist, specialising in music, at the Newcastle Herald. He first joined the masthead in 2008 after stints at the Namoi Valley Independent and Port Stephens Examiner and has previously covered sport including the Asian Cup, A-League, Surfest, cricket and rugby league.
