Album Review: Bugs – Self Help

There has been a cohort of Aussie pop-punk/emo releases this year – Ceres, The Lazy Susans, Dear Seattle, to name a few. Self Help sees Bugs shoot to the top of the ever-growing, and never boring, playlist.

The album is best classified as emo-pop because it will have you bopping down the street while maybe having a bit of a tear-up too. It's full of upbeat tunes, with a sprinkle of vulnerability and anxiety, perfected with the help of frontman Connor Brooker’s larrikin voice – it's hard not to fall in love with his vocals as early as track one, Personal Saviour. You can hear the Brisbane three-piece's chemistry in the fast-paced cohesion of the record, the songs yearning for live singalongs on tracks like Reviews and Yew Crew.

We're stumped that anyone could refuse to hop on the Bugs train after this release. Self Help is genuine, heartfelt, raw and oh so catchy.