Crumb Can’t Escape “The Bug” on Atmospheric New Single

Ahead of their third album AMAMA’s May release, Brooklyn psych-pop quartet Crumb have shared a new single, a blurred portrait of fixation called “The Bug,” and announced a North American headlining tour.

The track feels like a dream—specifically, the kind that threatens to tip over into a nightmare at any moment. Pillowy synth and delicate percussion underpin Lila Ramani’s voice as she blends nostalgia with obsession: “The years go by / And the bug stays on my mind.” The instrumental continues to shapeshift, folding in harpsichord arpeggios and warped guitars, and before you know it, Ramani’s vocals have fallen away entirely, leaving us to groove through a dark forest of psychedelia, stalked always by the bug.

The music video (dir. Haoyan of America) accompanying “The Bug” leans into the track’s creepy-crawly undercurrents while also having some fun with its central metaphor. Much of its runtime is spent at the titular insect’s level: We watch Crumb performing through many eyes, as if assuming its viewpoint, and skitter through walls and across a keyboard along with it. If any music video is going to make you itchy, it’s this one, but in doing so, it effectively evokes the kind of visceral feeling you just can’t shake.

“‘The Bug’ is a song that has existed in our universe since early Crumb days, pre-Jinx era,” Ramani said of the single in a statement. “The origins go back to a motel in Nebraska on one of our earliest tours when I woke up with a bunch of bed bug bites. Wired and unable to sleep, I wandered around the motel singing what would become the outro to the song. 

“Years later when we were finally recording it, it took on a more tender meaning. The bug doesn’t have to be an insect—the bug can be a friend, a lover, or that nagging feeling that finds you late at night.”

Due out May 17 via the band’s own Crumb Records, AMAMA was produced in Los Angeles with Johnscott Sanford and Jonathan Rado. The album follows 2019’s Jinx and 2021’s Ice Melt.

Crumb’s tour in support of the album begins in mid-July and comes to 30 cities across the continent, including Chicago, Austin, Boston, Los Angeles and a hometown show in Brooklyn. The band will play alongside L’Rain, Vagabon, and Discovery Zone on select dates. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 26, at 10 a.m. local time. You can see the band’s complete tour itinerary below, listen to “The Bug” here and preorder Amama here.

Crumb Tour Dates:

7/18 – Des Moines, IA @ Wooly’s 

7/19 – Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater 

7/21 – Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival

8/20 – Philadelphia, PA @ Brooklyn Bowl *

8/21 – Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore Silver Spring *

8/23 – Richmond, Virginia @ The National *

8/24 – Charlotte, NC @ The Underground *

8/25 – Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theatre *

8/27 – Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl *

8/28 – Indianapolis, IN @ Deluxe *

8/30 – Detroit, MI @ Saint Andrew’s Hall *

8/31 – Toronto, ON @ The Concert Hall *

9/01 – Montreal, QC @ Théâtre Beanfield *

9/04 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount *

9/05 – New Haven, CT @ Toad’s Place *

9/06 – Boston, MA @ Roadrunner *

10/03 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst ^

10/04 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater ^

10/05 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades ^

10/07 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot ^

10/09 – Denver, CO @ The Mission Ballroom ^

10/11 – Dallas, TX @ Ferris Wheelers ^

10/12 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall ^

10/13 – San Antonio, TX @ Aztec Theatre ^

10/15 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s ^

10/17 – Albuquerque, NM @ El Rey Theater ^

10/18 – El Paso, TX @ Lowbrow Palace ^

10/21 – Santa Ana, CA @ Observatory OC ^

10/22 – San Diego, CA @ Observatory North Park ^

10/23 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern ^

* with L’Rain and Discovery Zone

^ with Vagabon