Bug finds
Dave Davies looking back, returning to a comfortable, familiar sound. No, not the
garage rock of early
Kinks records, nor the precious English
pop that marked his initial foray into solo recordings in the mid-'60s. No, he's returning to the album-oriented
hard rock that marked
the Kinks'
Low Budget and his solo albums from the early '80s -- which is only appropriate, since it is his first album of new material in nearly 20 years. Even so, it's startling that apart from the clean contemporary production, the album feels like it could have been released the same year as
Chosen People, but once that shock wears off, it's easy to appreciate
Bug as a real solid collection of arena-rattlers, earnest mid-tempo rockers, and ballads. There is the occasional change-up -- the
surf guitars on
"The Lie!," for instance -- but this is pretty much a straight-ahead
rock record, fueled by good guitar playing and very sincere, soul-baring lyrics. This is probably the purest album
Dave Davies has yet released, the one closest to capturing his personality -- there are no commercial considerations to the production or the material, the performances are sharp, the songs are solid. Yes, it's primarily for the converted die-hards at this point, but that was always the case with
Dave's solo albums -- and those who still pay attention will find
Bug a worthy comeback. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
