Shady Bug - Lemon Lime (2019)

Few bands can master the loud - quiet - loud dynamic, and even fewer as effectively as Shady Bug. The young St. Louis based four-piece doesnt just utilize contrast, they revel in it. Lemon Lime, the bands appropriately titled full-length, is a sweet and sharp sonic confection, each song a push and pull of jagged distortion and beautiful melody thats impossible to deny. It takes their brand of noisy, dynamic guitar pop and twists it into new directions. The album opens with a wall of explosive fuzz that brilliantly shifts to a shimmering verse of interwoven guitars and Hannah Raineys warm voice. Throughout the 9 tracks it becomes a stunning display that perfectly captures the effortless balance of sheer beauty and unhinged discord at which Shady Bug excels, and it makes something very clear: Lemon Lime isnt your average pedal-stomping indie rock album, its lightning in a bottle.