1 2 3 4 5

Reviewed for The Dwarf

Guitar/drum duos have been a bit of a mini-trend in recent years with The White Stripes, Mess Hall, Black Keys and No Age being some of the better exponents. Generally the stripped down setup has been centred around blues-based rock and its not something you’d think would work for hard rock or metal. BugGirl debunk that assumption and though their sound may be derivative, cartoonish and almost tribute-like, it can’t be said that they lack passion and conviction.

The cliched Blood, Sweat & Beers is an EP that doesn’t shy away from its mission to ‘rock’ with beer soaked innuendo, monster riffs and that magic mix of cars and sex. Amber and Clinton Spence manage to just pull their heads out of the waters of parody by excelling at their instruments and playing with enthusiasm, but it is a fine line they tread in these modern rock/metal times.

Metal is seeing a resurgence of its thrash and early British styles but the LA glam scene from the 80s hasn’t quite faired so well, mainly down to the laughable outfits and perceived lack of substance. The Darkness recently exploited the scene well and local lads Hell City Glamours are doing their bit to keep the flame of GnR, LA Guns and Hanoi Rocks alive.

BugGirl sit somewhere amidst all of these sub-genres. The obvious influence of AC/DC permeates everything they do, from the chanted choruses to Clinton’s solid drumming and the guitar tone that Amber conjures up. The opening track ‘Blood, Sweat & Beers’ is Motley Crue at its finest, replacing Girls, Girls Girls with the aforementioned fluids. On ‘Motor City Lover’ they add a dash of boogie to their sound with Ian Astbury-style lyrical couplets filling the gaps between powerchords. They have even named a song after The Cult’s frontman.

The best moment on the EP comes in the guitar intro to ‘V8 Motor’. Fast and tight it brings both Ministry and Iron Maiden to mind. Unfortunately the rest of the song doesn’t get anywhere near the guitar and can only lay a lazy and bloated chorus between the sharp riffing.

BugGirl channel Jimmy Page on Fire Highway with some more impressive playing and some Janis Joplin meets Beth Ditto ballsy shrieking. It has its moments but is built on few good ideas – not many. She continues the Zeppelin tribute on Bad Blood to better effect but lyrically it is a cock-rock cartoon with lines like  “She tore a bolt of lightening, from the sky last night above me, she impaled Aphrodite, now the sky above is igniting”.

With five songs, this EP feels like a long album, such is the draining listening effect. Subtlety is completely absent but then again, with what BugGirl are trying to do it is a compulsory omission. Fans of Circus Of Power, Zodiac Mindwarp, perhaps Eagles Of Death Metal will find some favourable headbanging moments here but it has all been done plenty of times before.