Damaged Bug is another side project of Oh Sees founder John Dwyer. He’s put out a few solo albums (2014’s Hubba Bubba and 2015’s Cold Hot Plumbs) under this moniker by now, and his latest, Bunker Funk, is another solid effort.
The opening din of “Bog Dash” is like an alarm clock waking you up from a great dream in your fourth REM cycle of the night. The guitars sound like someone played them while drunk and stumbling up a stairway, and the drumbeat is crisp as fresh popcorn. The tune, as you can expect from Dwyer, heads straight into psychedelia and “The Cryptologist” follows this path. Dwyer’s lyrics are almost a whispered chant luring us into some dark tomb or hidden city.
“Slay the Priest” is full of throbbing synths mixed with clanging percussion while Dwyer sings about (I think) ritual combat between him and a druid. “Ugly Gamma” reminds me of Flaming Lips tracks with its weird synthesizer sounds and creepy vocals. It’s one of the coolest tracks on the record. I have no idea what a “jummy” is in “Rick’s Jummy.” I don’t even know if “jummy” is a noun or adjective. I do know that the song is a nice, trippy piece of psychedelia. “Our love keeps us alive, everyone else has died,” Dwyer sings. I suppose he’s right, in the grand scheme of things.
“Gimme Tamanthum” is another weird, chant-like track with soaring guitar chords throughout it. “No One Notice the Fly” has a great flute riff throughout it that makes it sound like a 1970’s action TV show theme. The album’s title track is equally funky, especially in the drumbeats and cymbal crashes. “Mood Slime” almost sounds like a warped record as Dwyer sings about a garden spider and a lovely woman who might be leaving him. “Liquid Desert” is appropriately weird for its title and blends rock drums with keyboards that sound like Gary Wilson played them while in a bad mood. “Unmanned Scanner” is the closest Dwyer comes to replicating his work with Thee Oh Sees, as it’s full of loud, jangly, almost chaotic guitars. “The Night Shopper” sends the album out on a mellow note, complete with a long fade out of silence.
This is an intriguing, weird, and trippy record, but you’d expect no less from Mr. Dwyer. I suppose you could funk out to it in a bunker, but I wouldn’t if you were locked in there for a long time. It might freak you out too much.
Keep your mind open.
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