Damaged Bug - “ZUZAX” Review
Written by Beau Croxton
ALBUM OF THE MONTH: March
ZUZAX is another great Damaged Bug record that’s full of absolute gems and fun oddities. It leans further into the characteristics that define John Dwyer, for the better.
This Friday March 20th, John Dwyer graces his fans with the fifth album from his solo endeavour, Damaged Bug. ZUZAX is composed of 11 tunes (from 40 potential songs) that John Dwyer amassed between 2018-2025, and the material was reworked a number of times till it found its groove.
Like some of Damaged Bug’s best material, ZUZAX regularly takes a very off-kilter approach to catchy musical ideas. The record regularly flaunts Dwyer’s vast creativity and his most unique and beloved musical mannerisms. Dwyer has described the record as “sugary”, which is accurate in a hook-y sense, but he also describes it as “abstract and fried”, which suits the album's gloriously crooked mentality. While Damaged Bug’s instrumentals are largely performed by Dwyer, the record features a few guest contributions from Brigid Dawson (vocals), Nick Murray (drums), Paul Quattrone (drums), and Tom Dolas (keys). ZUZAX is also often addictively creepy– it feelslike an eerie soundtrack for the best cult horror movie you’ve never seen.
Let's dive in track-by-track for our Album Of The Month: Damaged Bug — ZUZAX
“THE END OF THE WAR” is an infectiously catchy opening number that plays out like Beach Boys wrote a bop for Dwyer to hash out some dark humor on modern politics. It's a total blast with recitable and funny lyrics. You can almost envision Vincent Vega and Mia Wallace from Pulp Fiction swing dancing to it (the mashup works great, for anyone curious). The trade off between the vocals and the bleeping synths is brilliant.
“DOUBLE YOLKS” is a punky, minimalist cut that features a playful and catchy “La La La” chorus from Dwyer, which is pretty much a trademark Damaged Bug technique at this point. It also wouldn't sound out of place on the recent Chime Oblivion LP.
“MOZZY ROOVES & MORE” thrives on chaos– its jazzy, odd time signature drums sound like Buddy Rich using his kit as a weapon to go to war against Dwyer's cranky instrumentals. Dwyer leads the track with his punky frontman persona from SORCS 80, Intercepted Message and other recent Osees releases.
“HOAK” is an irresistible weirdo-rave up with funky drums paired with vintage organs, synth bleeps and cryptic refrain vocals about someone who’s “new to the neighborhood!”. It’s an excellent Dwyer experiment with his trademark yelps and drums that could soundtrack a high-speed chase scene.
photo courtesy of John Dwyer/ Damaged Bug
The brilliantly haunting “SIKE WITCH” has a very old-school Damaged Bug feel– it feels a bit like Cold Hot Plumbs by the way of Sleepy Hollow. It has clever and unique basslines that mirror each other and harmonize. Dwyer sings hushed vocals like some evil spectral presence on the chorus:“And I’ll kiss you / in the sweet dew / all the while / the bleeding garden grows”. The character that Dwyer embodies on the song sings with a sense of longing romanticism, but the vocal delivery is so downright chilling, that it sounds like a brooding threat…just brilliant. Some insistent and dry guitars harmonize in the outro along with vintage organs, ultimately driving this creep-show into a feverish peak.
“JUNK FOOD” is an odd, hip-hoppy sketch with sassy falsetto vocals– it feels a little more transitional than a main event, but it's cool nonetheless. “RARE LIGHTS” is a highlight that takes off with flute frills a crispy double-tracked drums. It has a supremely catchy Jack Bruce-esque vocal approach with lithe harmonies. It’s a shining example of the amount of personality that Dwyer can inject into his tunes while revolving on just two simple chords, and it brings a dose of nostalgia for Dwyer’s earlier work. In the background of the track– Dwyer sounds like he’s disarming some intergalactic warhead; synth sounds bleep out like R2D2 having a fit.
“OVER-EXPOSED” is a smooth classic that revolves around purring saxophone, glistening synths, and deep crooning. Dwyer sings like he’s giving his most impassioned ballad performance at a karaoke bar at 3am, and the rhythm section feels like they were fed ketamine before recording. It strongly resembles the style achieved on "Always At Night” from Osees’ Intercepted Message, but delivered in a more gorgeous and serene manner. The song is sonically wrapped in a haze; it's a beautiful and dark fog that is sure to bring the listener into a state of serenity.
“FRIED HANDS” haunts with a creepy character voice that invokes a childlike enthusiasm to detail a “killer on the side of the road”. When Dwyer concludes his verses with an “Alright!”, it sounds like it'll cue a solo section– instead, what follows is an absolutely warped version of that. This anti-solo jam serves as a perfectly off-kilter conclusion to a twisted tale.
“MAN WITHOUT PLANET” is a gothic baritone ballad that sounds like Roxy Music composing a score for an Alien/Dracula hybrid musical in the 70s. Tracks like this demonstrate exactly why Damaged Bug is a great additional place for Dwyer to explore his (even more) left-field ambitions.
“TENTED LIGHTS” drums up nostalgia for Dwyer’s freak-folk days. It has verses that feel like some creeped-out folk song sung by children in the 1600s. This closing number sounds like a lullaby of death with subtle guitar delay freakouts.
Many of the best Damaged Bug tunes have always felt like manic, yet potent sketches, or mad scientist experiments that explore new corners of Dwyer’s psyche– and ZUZAX has all of the above. Most of Dwyer’s most avid fans can expect a bit of a treasure trove on ZUZAX, much like the rest of Damaged Bug’s consistent discography.
But there are plenty of catchy oddball hits that have plenty of crossover potential to win over any newcomers—— tracks like “OVER-EXPOSED” feel timeless and classic. “SIKE WITCH” combines creepy and groovy in a delightfully haunting way, “RARE LIGHTS” is immediately entrancing and "END OF THE WAR” is a sugar-coated anthem of dark humor and pure hooks.
While this record largely feels like Damaged Bug’s version of what John Dwyer has been up to since the 2020’s Protean Threat and Bug On Yonkers, the variety and quality of the tracks and the sum of their parts makes for a great modern Dwyer release. Structurally, the tunes tend to be straight forward, but the amount of bizarre and lovable personality that is infused into each song is a significant strength. ZUZAX has plenty of fantastic oddities, experimental moments and infectious bops which will allow for a fuller understanding of the legend behind Osees and beyond.
Occult Highlights: SIKE WITCH, THE END OF THE WAR, OVER-EXPOSED, HOAK, RARE LIGHTS, FRIED HANDS, MOZZY ROOVES & MORE
(…but we recommend you listen in full while going mad in the lab)
8.6/10
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