Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Storm Bugs - A Safe Substitute [KlangGalerie - 2020]

Originally released in 1980 A Safe Substitute was the debut release from London based experimental duo Storm Bugs. It offered up a selection of darkly woozy & grimly uneasy sound-scaping that moved between stark industrial texturing, lo-fi glitching electronica, surreal ambience, and bleak sonic collaring. Here from the guys over at KlangGalerie is a most needed CD reissue of this release- bringing together the albums original four tracks, with three bonus tracks.

The release is presented in a glossy four-panel digipak- on it's outside, and inside artwork, we get blurred & reflective pictures of a UK clothes shop from the 1980- which fits well with some of the themes of the release. And we get minimal text info on the back cover. I’m not sure what the pressing is on this, but I’m sure it can’t be huge- as I know more often than not KlangGalerie titles do go out of print.

The album opens up with the longest track here “Mesh Of Wire/ Car Situations/ Mesh On Wire(Reprise)”- this comes in at just over the sixteen & a half minute mark, and gives you really of a primer of what to expect on the rest of the album- as we find drifting & blurring blend lo-fi chopping beats, wavering & unease synth textures, floating female & male voices- either snipped & dragged, or left eerier & stark, rattling or clicking metallic tones, or wonky pitch shifts- all making for an eventful & unease sonic soup. By track three we come to the six and a half minutes of “Solely From”- here we find a great example of murky early techno-meets- industrial  sound making with its blunt blend of piping synth lines, snaking loose beats, and metal-on-metal rhythmic rattle. The original release finished with the wonderful ominous-titled “Blackheath Episode”- which is nearing five minutes of chugging & biting electronics, woozy pitch swift harmonics, and more seared/ bouncing sampled junk elements.

On the bonus side, we get three tracks, and these are from the same period as the other tracks. We have the scarping-meets-brooding march of “He Rose Up Again”, the creepy scuttle & tribal snap of “333”, and the more quirky & roughshod junkshop sinister dada of “Table Matters Soundtrack”. These three tracks sit well alongside the original album tracks, and push the CD length up to spot on the forty-seven minute mark.


It’s marvellous to see KlangGalerie reissue this great example of early 80’s industrial unease & clattering grim ambience- and let's hope there are some more Storm Bugs reissue planned for the near future, as they certainly had their own distinctive sound.

Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

Roger Batty
Latest Reviews

Storm Bugs - A Safe Substitute
Originally released in 1980 A Safe Substitute was the debut release from London based experimental duo Storm Bugs. It offered up a selection of darkly woozy ...
070825   The Odd Job - The Odd Job( Bl...
070825   Beneath the Valley of the Ult...
070825   Erik Griswold - Next Level Av...
070825   Crumb Catcher - Crumb Catche...
070825   La Terra Trema - La Terra Tr...
060825   The Tale of Oiwa’s Ghost - ...
060825   Relay for Death - Mutual Con...
050825   Steve Von Till - Alone In The...
050825   The Melvins - Thunderball
310725   Whore's Breath - Mock
Latest Articles

Raté interview - Walled-in Failure
Raté is a Bordeaux-based project that creates searing, at times subtle, unsettling wall noise. It’s been active since November 2024, releasing a...
250725   Raté interview - Walled-in F...
180625   Matthew Holmes - Of razor-sha...
280525   The Residents - Visits From T...
090525   Ennaytch - Of walls, abused ...
150425   Dead, Dead Swans interview - ...
110325   Sebastian Tomb - Walls of unb...
040225   Alien Sex Fiend - Possessed B...
231224   Best Of 2024 - Music, Sound &...
191224   Splintered - Somewhere Betwee...
031224   Shane Ryan-Reid - Coerced and...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2025. Twenty four years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom