Jsntgm 040 Litterbug – Abstract Melodies Saying Terrible Things

1. Push It Away 02:33
2. Confused 02:13
3. Guinea Pigs 01:43
4. Time Machine 02:37
5. Getting Fined 02:20
6. I Don’t Want Anything 02:10
7. Let The Night Unfold (Part 2) 02:36
8. Alienated 01:49
9. Midnight Dream 02:23
10. Too Late 01:35
11. Cut-Throat Capital 02:16
12. Not A Real Person 02:29
13. Sludge 02:16
14. On The Table 02:10
15. Straight Edge 02:36
16. Waiting For Something To Happen 01:50

released April 12, 2020

REVIEWS

Review by MICK FLETCHER
Forming in 2005, Litterbug (https://www.facebook.com/litterbugblackpool/) are the Blackpool punk 3 piece featuring a line up of Stuart Diggle (guitar/vocals), Toby Ridehalgh (drums) and Andy Higgins (bass/vocals). Inspired by the likes of The Buzzcocks, Undertones, Briefs, Pixies etc, they’ve released an impressive catalogue of sub 3 minute catchy punk tunes that never fail to impress. They recently compiled 2 of their albums, Your Perception Is Not My Reality & Countdown to Schadenfreude, on one cd for a bargain £7. Now they follow that up with a brand new 16 track album titled Abstract Melodies Saying Terrible Things. The album is like a box of chocolates, open it up and choose from a selection of tasty treats. Unwrap the foil and indulge yourself on a bitter sweet song about looking back on your life and wondering if you’d have lived it differently Gorge yourself on a crunchy bite sized track about battling to get out of bed as you struggle to fit in with society. There’s the sticky toffee centred Sludge (“We all get stuck in the mud”)… It’s a selection you can easily indulge yourself on, you’ll soon be sat there at the end of Waiting For Something To Happen with a pile of wrappers and a full belly wanting to start over again. The cd version should be available later this month, vinyl in June but you can get it digitally now : https://litterbug.bandcamp.com/album/abstract-melodies-saying-terrible-things This track is about our cctv society. We pay our taxes but the bastards in charge still want to bleed you of more money at every opportunity. It’s titled Getting Fined…

Review by Mark Cartwright
Litterbug are a three piece that play, their own version of straight edge melodic/non melodic punk, but with plenty of influence from the past and maybe even the future, from the Blackpool area of the UK.

With Stuart (Guitar/Vocal), Toby (Drums/Vocal) and Andy (Bass/Vocal) they are certainly not afraid to push boundaries when it comes to lyrical content.

“This Album has a pretentious sounding title, but is based around non semblance. It’s been 18 months in the making, rather creating new songs and adding older unreleased material”

This is Litterbug’s fourth full length in around 9 years, all the previous releases have been carefully considered and crafted, in the same vein this is not a throw away album, for want of a better analogy, “thinking mans punk” comes to mind, not that there isn’t plenty of this around, but can there ever be too much? Throw away, background music always has its place in the world, but for this kind of thought provoking, socially conscious music, life would be one long party, and there is nothing wrong with this, but as we know parties don’t always end well.

So what do we get within this 16 tracks, well for the opening song “Push It Away” you get in a nutshell Litterbug at their best, a wonderful baseline entry, melodic guitar riffs all backed up by a steady supportive drum beat, a song about throwing away possibilities in fear of the outcome, this followed by “Confused” a track that if you took all the musical and lyrical traits that sum up Litterbug, this is what you might get, seeing what is in front of them and writing about it.

There are so many stand out tracks within this album, and so many that lyrically can be open to interpretation, “Sludge” “Alienated” & “Waiting For Something To Happen” are among these, all seem to have there intentions there, but can be listened to with a sense of self.

If you haven’t been introduced to this band before now, then don’t expect that you will instantly love them, their history of releases are filled with styles and influences that blend to create both the melodic and heavier versions of their persona, this album though is by far there best yet, it feels as if everything before this was the cultivation and now you get the fruition. Out on CD April 24th

Review by GARY WELFORD IPA Music
I first came across Blackpool punk trio Litterbug three years ago, when, on the recommendation of the bloke who runs the excellent All Ages Records shop in Camden, I bought their latest album, despite never having heard them.

That record, Your Perception Is Not My Reality, was their first ‘proper’ release after a handful of self-released DIY efforts, and it was a sound recommendation, as I liked it straight away.

I saw them live at Rebellion Festival in their hometown the following year, which confirmed what I thought – that this was a band to be watched.

Litterbug have been going about 15 years, playing their own brand of 77-style punk, with a few post-punk trimmings, and very good it is too.

Stu on guitar, Andy on bass and Toby on drums are a tight unit, who play no-frills punk, with most of their songs coming in at around the two to two-and-a-half-minute mark.

The 16 tracks which make up this album are rattled through in a little over 35 minutes; there’s no pissing about, just foot-to-the-floor punk rock.

Stu and Andy won’t mind me saying they’re old enough to remember bands like the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned, which are obviously a big influence.

But I’m hearing bits of UK Subs and the Dead Kennedys in there too, along with later bands like Killing Joke and even Husker Du.

Guinea Pigs and it’s chorus of “we’re all just guinea pigs, you’re just a lab rat, lab rat” reminded me of GBH, while there’s a nod to The Who‘s timeless Substitute in Time Machine with the line “you look young but you’re just backdated”.

The stop-start Let The Night Unfold (Part 2) takes off at breakneck speed, while Alienated has a Ramones feel, but heavier, with their own off-kilter vocal touch.

My favourite couple of tracks are deep into the album; the raging Cutthroat Capital, probably the heaviest song here, and Sludge, which features great time changes, and veers off towards grunge and even hardcore in places.

All in all, if you like your punk served up old school, with a refreshing modern twist, Litterbug are well worth investing some time in. This album is available to download now on Bandcamp HERE, with the CD release following on April 24 and vinyl before the end of June. There’s also currently a great download deal on their entire back catalogue.

Review by Peter Jones of Paranoid Visions Rotator Vinyl
Anyone know this band Litterbug???

If not you should!

I’m just listening to the test pressing of the record that rotator are pressing for them at the moment. Killer bass sound, songs and attitude reminiscent of very early west coast American hardcore.

All in all it’s a terrific record coming out on lime green vinyl with a beautiful matt finished sleeve in a couple of months!