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From the Shepherd Express:
First there were the Beatles and then came the Bugs, Milwaukee's tongue-in-cheek, punk-rock tribute to the four lads from Liverpool. Recently, the popular act changed some members, added a letter and re-emerged as the Buggs. The big bug, founder-vocalist-guitarist Lane Klozier, is still with the group. He added such local alternative rock veterans as Dan Tana (lead guitar), Luki Mustapha (drums) and Johnny Washday (bass) to the lineup along with a few new tunes. In all other respects, the song remains the same. "We just wanted to cover classic Beatles and other songs from that era with a punk-rock sound," Klozier explains. "Along with that we wanted a schtick—the '60s suits and the blasé attitude. I call us Milwaukee's only original cover band." Whether with one "g" or two, the Buggs' unique approach has won enthusiastic crowds at Summerfest, Bucks games and other big venues, but has placed them a little between the usual pigeonholes of cover-band bars and East Side alt-clubs. "Sometimes the original clubs didn't want us because we were a cover band and the cover clubs didn't want us because they saw us as an original act—because we didn't sound like the old records or play songs of the present day," Klozier says. "But of all the bands I've been in, this is the one that never had a bad response from the crowd." One key to understanding the Buggs' success with audiences is their appeal across lines of generation and genre. "What we play is so universal and we play it in such a way that everyone from college kids to 60-year-olds loves us. Everyone knows the songs," Klozier says. At upcoming gigs, expect the Beatles' "Dig a Pony" and "I Am the Walrus" slam-dunked along with Neil Young's "Love is a Rose," the Divinyls' "I Touch Myself" and what Klozier describes as a Judas Priest-like rendition of Alanis Morissette's "Hand in My Pocket." "We decided to range a little wider in our repertoire," he says, "but we are still keying in on the Beatles. We want to stick with the schtick."
Dave Luhrssen - The Shepherd Express
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A Boy and His Rooster
Too Loud
We get spins on several college radio stations.
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Back in 2000, The Buggs were looking for a formula to set themselves apart from the rest while maintaining accessability. We decided to take several Beatles songs and play them in a punk rock format. With a short set, we started opening for bands around town. It seemed that our crowd response was always better than the act we were supporting. We increased our repitore, cut a disc (A Boy and His Rooster) and were soon headlining to decent crowds. We played Summerfest sveral times and did well enough to land sure spots at other events such as Bucks games, Locust St Festival, Bay View Bash and many others. Our mission statement is to provide high energy rock that is tried and true while making it our own with qwirky arrangements and top notch performance.
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