St. Louis’ Shady Bug have been tearing it up for a full decade now, with band leader Hannah Rainey helping to carry the torch for the type of noise-pop that seemed ubiquitous in the early ’10s. With 2019’s Lemon Lime, Shady Bug aligned that vision with the post-hardcore mindset of Exploding in Sound Records, while their newly announced follow-up, I Wanted to Be There, reflects Rainey’s recent move to Philadelphia with nu-gaze label Julia’s War releasing the album.
The music itself hasn’t changed much over the years, though, with Rainey’s knotty guitar scuzz and earnest slacker-rock vocals clashing atop diaristic vignettes. The new record’s latest single “Seed,” for example, features cathartic riffs that do most of the leg work when it comes to Rainey’s exorcism of tough emotions. “‘Seed’ was written out of a screwed situation of a past love trying to re-enter my life after a sour break-up,” she shares of the track’s inspiration.
While working within a familiar palette, the emotional core of the track feels a bit experimental for Shady Bug, while the composition seems more scrambled than usual. “I wrote this one on GarageBand on my iPad before bringing it to the band,” Rainey continues. “I was playing with time signatures and also juxtaposition of moods. I am very obsessed with the solemn love songs á la Cindy Lee. Dark tenderness and nostalgia are huge themes on the entire album.”
Check out the video for “Seed” below, which was made by Beeside Cassettes’ Dan Paoletti and features footage of the band intermixed with various public-archive imagery, all distorted with a very Loveless filter. You can also pre-order the album here.
