THE BUGS ARE TOTAL

The Bugs, picture by Sachiko Arakawa

The Bugs new record is called "The Right Time" and I helped to put it out along with X-Mist in Germany and the band themselves. If you want one, there's a little bit of the first pressing available here or from the band as they tour the west coast. We printed the covers at Garage Tees, a long time Total Fest sponsor and great print shop. It's been on repeat around here since we got the tape version of it when they toured through last fall. Pretty much everything the Bugs touch is gold as far as I'm concerned. They've got the raw emotional stuff, they've got the humor and they've got the realness sometimes punk rock wants for.

I first saw the Bugs in around 2003 or so, I think. They were on tour and stopped into Missoula during a cold snap. They played a set at a Barnburner festival at Marshall Mountain, in a tent scented with propane fumes and with few folks in attendance, right after Volumen. None of that adversity seemed to phase them, nor did they really seem to notice. They just blasted out a 23 minute set of about 10 great songs, got off the stage, then we probably went to buy some beer.

Recently when Red Fang did a video release show, they invited the Bugs to play, and hopped up on stage and did a handful of Bugs covers.