Unsigned Band Spotlight: Bug Prentice

Bug Prentice are a three piece ‘jazz tinged punk’ outfit from Oxford, fronted by the self-admitted musical oddity Ally Craig.

They’re no ordinary musical outfit, and not just because of Craig’s unique guitar playing style; holding the instrument vertical in his wheelchair. The track that they’re currently pimping out - ‘Nicholas Ray’ is is a bizarre mix of synth-like swishes and warped voices; saturated with cinematic suspense.

These sort of audio experiments can all too often sound like a failed attempt to be arty, or to quote the enemy ‘trying too hard to be weird’. Not so in this case though, with the trio managing to walk the line between genius and disaster impressively well.

You can get your very own copy at the band’s BandCamp, and if you like what you hear… check out their inclusion on ‘Leader of the Starry Skies - A Loyal Companion’, which is a tribute album to raise money for the Cardiacs’ frontman, after suffering a severe stroke. Check them out.

**EDIT** - Hilariously, Ally got in touch with Artrocker today (January 23rd) to tell us that he’d been listening to the BBC and spotted them playing his track, which was err.. backwards. It turns out that we inadvertantly got a hold of the inverted version, and so reviewed on that basis. Doh!

The proper track makes much more sense, and whilst it doesn’t ‘walk the line between genius and disaster’, it’s far more aurally pleasing. A bit like a warped Radiohead if they had taken a different path and mixed it up with some Halloween-Movie style guitar lines. You can find the proper version for yourself above.