Review Summary: lol hmu
Despite it’s awkward quirkiness,
tbh idk is quite the appropriate title for the debut album from St. Louis natives Shady Bug. I say this because tonally the record dives into many of the hidden meanings behind the text-oriented abbreviations; it’s an attempt to appear indifferent despite being earnestly invested in the anxious unknowns. As with any online conversation, (or any lyrical endeavor, for that matter) the true intentions are rarely revealed, but glimpses of this ironically passive mindset surface throughout the songs. What’s even more fascinating, in fact, is how the band is able to musically weave these feelings together in the forms of cleanly brittle guitar twangs and distorted outbursts of punk breakdowns. Although this theory isn’t applicable to every track, on ‘Sweet n’ Sour’ particularly the quieter moments represent the reserved reflections one would share jokingly with friends (“
my face when you vape in my basement”) yet when the band outbreaks into pedal-stomping fury the line “
wanna go out with me? / I’ll even buy you a drink “ is clearly Hannah’s outlet for those pressing thoughts left unspoken.
Ignoring the conceptual weight of the album for a moment, instrumentally this is a perfect medley of female-fronted indie pop, twee, and punk. Splashes of wet, reverberated dream pop production can be heard throughout as well as Arbes-esque off-kilter guitar riffs. Despite it taking from so many influences, the album’s transitions reconnoitre a contemporary fusion between the borrowed genres. Highlight ‘Soft Touch’ follows this 1-2-1-2 pattern of saccharine, bubbly twee rock to rambunctious climaxes in literally the flip of a switch. There’s no buildup or even foreshadowing for such transitions, making the first occurrence startling yet chill-inducing. On paper, the stark contrasts shouldn’t work as they defy their own waltzy aesthetics in the blink of an eye, but they just
vibe, making any novice band rethink their own song progressions. Although the studio version of their own theme song doesn’t quite match the energetic live equivalent, it’s a distinctive mark of character, proving to be both immediate and memorable.
tbh idk is a fruitful endeavor into the modern realm of relationships and the anxiety-ridden culture of millennials and iGenerationals. In a world full of hesitant desires and uncharted emotions, Shady Bug snugly nestles their way into the turmoil with a smiling, cutesy façade. There’s scenes of shy stumblings into possible lover’s rooms as seen with ‘Toughest Part’s’ confessional serenade, and darkly lit, morose tales of past romances found in ‘Night Creeper’. The territory they consistently land in is somewhere between an unprecedented discovery and conventional, safe terrain but such a combination should surely cultivate nationwide success, no? Well, the indie scene of St. Louis sure seems to think so, but to be honest, I don’t know.
