The Bug Club emerged in 2016 when Sam Willmett and Tilly Harris established the group in the Monmouthshire market town of Caldicot. Initially operating as a regional U.K. blues act whose material came largely from Willmett, the duo maintained a consistent core while peripheral players rotated through the lineup. Their early gigs stayed confined to local stages until the sound tightened into a leaner, more hook-driven hybrid around the turn of the decade. By 2021 the band had crystallized a distinctive mix of rock, punk, and garage elements that sat between the Violent Femmes, Jonathan Richman, and AC/DC, all delivered with a fiercely independent, high-volume creative streak.
That same year they issued the EP Pure Particles, packaged with its own board game, followed in 2022 by the Bingo Records debut Green Dream in F#. Early the next year they performed an entirely new repertoire under the alias Mr. Anyway's Holey Spirits; those shows were documented on the live release Mr Anyway's Holey Spirits Perform! One Foot in Bethlehem. Still touring as the Bug Club, Willmett and Harris assembled a sprawling 50-track double album of songs, spoken-word passages, and experimental pieces titled Rare Birds: Hour of Song, issued in 2023. The sheer volume of output drew the attention of Sub Pop, which signed the Welsh outfit and, in August 2024, released their third studio album, On the Intricate Inner Workings of the System.
