No Paradise

On their second album, 2024’s No Paradise, Lightning Bug further demonstrate the American quartet’s involving path around 21st century rock, showcasing both lyrical and musical depth in striking fashion. While there are suggestions of the experimental country/Americana of acts like Wednesday or Big Chief, it’s less that the group, led by the rich singing and songwriting of Audrey Kang, is part of any one school of music. Rather, the free flowing blend of approaches evident throughout is as wide ranging as an act like Stereolab, just with different reference points – spoken word samples on “I Feel…,” the tense murmuring grooves of “Opus,” the Tom Waits-ish clattering lope of “Serenade” and much more – anchored by Kang’s imagistic, sometimes harrowing lyrics on survival and recovery. It’s also very well sequenced: to note one instance, the increasingly sharp full band edge on “The Quickening,” for example, lets Kang’s voice float beautifully throughout, with the bleeding downshift into “The Flowering” opening up slower tempos and a sense of space before a thrilling, warm chorus.