Biography
John Dwyer channels his energies into Damaged Bug, crafting eccentric pop from vintage synthesizers and erratic electronics, when he steps away from the psychedelic garage prog of his main outfit, Oh Sees. That side project's inaugural effort, Hubba Bubba, arrived in 2014 as a solitary, kitchen-sink affair of keyboards and sonic oddities; later installments gradually incorporated fuller ensemble dynamics and heavier distortion, culminating in the 2020 set Bug on Yonkers, a collection that closely mirrors the sonic thrust of an Oh Sees release.
Dwyer launched Damaged Bug roughly a month after Thee Oh Sees entered what proved a short-lived hiatus in 2014. Abandoning the conventional guitar-bass-drums format, he instead assembled tracks from antique synthesizers, drum machines, and assorted custom-built electronic devices. The debut album Hubba Bubba was tracked during fall 2013 inside Dwyer's home studio and issued the following January on his own Castle Face Records imprint. Even after Thee Oh Sees resumed activity, the parallel venture persisted; the 2015 Thee Oh Sees album Mutilator Defeated at Last surfaced only fourteen days prior to Damaged Bug's second LP, Cold Hot Plumbs. Throughout 2016 Dwyer issued two further Thee Oh Sees records while managing Castle Face's continuous release schedule, yet still found room to complete the comparatively expansive and ensemble-oriented Bunker Funk, which appeared in early 2017.
After a stretch of sustained activity, an intractable spell of writer's block stalled plans for another Damaged Bug album. Dwyer enlisted Thee Oh Sees colleagues Tomas Dolas on keyboards, vocalist Brigid Dawson, and drummer Nick Murray to interpret material by one of his longtime influences, Michael Yonkers. The resulting Bug on Yonkers comprises nine blistering, guitar-driven renditions drawn from Yonkers' 1968 classic Microminiature Love and additional sources; it reached the public in April 2020.
Dwyer launched Damaged Bug roughly a month after Thee Oh Sees entered what proved a short-lived hiatus in 2014. Abandoning the conventional guitar-bass-drums format, he instead assembled tracks from antique synthesizers, drum machines, and assorted custom-built electronic devices. The debut album Hubba Bubba was tracked during fall 2013 inside Dwyer's home studio and issued the following January on his own Castle Face Records imprint. Even after Thee Oh Sees resumed activity, the parallel venture persisted; the 2015 Thee Oh Sees album Mutilator Defeated at Last surfaced only fourteen days prior to Damaged Bug's second LP, Cold Hot Plumbs. Throughout 2016 Dwyer issued two further Thee Oh Sees records while managing Castle Face's continuous release schedule, yet still found room to complete the comparatively expansive and ensemble-oriented Bunker Funk, which appeared in early 2017.
After a stretch of sustained activity, an intractable spell of writer's block stalled plans for another Damaged Bug album. Dwyer enlisted Thee Oh Sees colleagues Tomas Dolas on keyboards, vocalist Brigid Dawson, and drummer Nick Murray to interpret material by one of his longtime influences, Michael Yonkers. The resulting Bug on Yonkers comprises nine blistering, guitar-driven renditions drawn from Yonkers' 1968 classic Microminiature Love and additional sources; it reached the public in April 2020.
Albums
Singles
