"Having a little fun is the secret to life" - Karen Rockower (Bugs in the Dark)

Brooklyn's Bugs in the Dark released their first full-length, Grand Avenue, earlier this year and I'm completely convinced that the band is going to break big next year.

Grand Avenue is a major step forward for the band as their songwriting has evolved from the Pylon/Hole-ish punk of their debut EP (Shake Shake) to something closer to X meets Sonic Youth.

The band clearly haven't given up their punk roots but there is more of a sense of melody and structure across this disc's six tracks. This time around, Karen Rockower sings of the four cuts and Zach Glass sings two. Karen's strong vocal performance ranges from the punky "Paranoia" to the Sleater-Kinneyish "Aaron". Zach's singing is a real treat as his voice sounds almost like a gothic John Doe (from X). Drummer, Julia Lomax keeps things moving with some great percussion work. Julia's drumming gives songs like "Gasoline" an almost tribal/Cramps-like feel and she mixes things up across the disc with shakers, tamborines, etc.

The new disc is available through the band's MySpace page (link below) and Bugs in the Dark are playing Lit Lounge on November 7th and The Delancey on December 13th.

Links:
Bugs in the Dark's MySpace Profile