When Bloomington celebrity cat Lil BUB released an album last year, some people were surprised it didn’t suck, BUB’s owner Mike Bridavsky said.
Lil BUB’s album “Science & Magic” was released in December of 2015 via Indianapolis’ Joyful Noise Recordings.
The band behind the music will perform the album live Sunday at the Bishop.
Bridavsky said he witnessed this surprise firsthand in an interview with Spin Magazine.
“The guy was a big BUB fan, and he was like, ‘I’ll be honest, when that record came in all our biggest critics were standing around waiting to tear it to shreds,’” he said.
Instead, when they finished listening, the critics had to admit it was pretty good, Bridavsky said.
The five-person band that performs the album is full of experienced musicians.
Bridavsky and guitarist Matt Tobey both played in Memory Map, Tobey was in Good Luck and drummer Mark Edlin plays in Dietrich Jon.
“I think we treat it as a creative endeavor, just like any other project we’ve done,” he said.
The album was the brainchild of Bridavsky and Tobey, who create all the music for Lil BUB’s YouTube videos.
“We had a huge selection of a bunch of songs,” Tobey said. “We were like, ‘Some of these are actually pretty good.’”
When Bridavsky brought up the idea of a full album with his longtime friend Karl Hofstetter, who founded Joyful Noise, he said Hofstetter thought it was a great idea.
“He lit the fire under our asses, because he wanted it to come out before Christmas, and so that’s the only reason we finished it,” Bridavsky said.
Post-release, the album received positive reviews from Spin and many others.
Each track sonically contributes to the album’s concept, which is a tale of Lil BUB’s travels around the universe and into Bridavsky’s life, he said.
“I truly believe that she’s fully responsible for the creative process,” he said.
Without BUB and the avenue of her fame, he said, none of the songs would’ve been written, recorded or heard.
“It takes the pretension out of it,” he said. “It takes the ego out of it, and it’s more like we’re doing it genuinely in honor of our friend BUB.”
There aren’t any vocals, save a few of BUB’s trademark noises, but the electro-pop vibe of the album narrates the story with warmth and positivity in songs like “A Friend” and “Good Job,” Bridavsky said.
Aside from Sunday’s show, the band also played at the Fountain Square Music Festival in Indianapolis and will perform Saturday in Chicago.
However, Lil BUB herself wasn’t able to make an appearance in Indianapolis and likely won’t on Sunday either, he said.
She will appear on the Mike Adams Show at the Bishop later that evening, though.
“You can’t really bring a little cat to a festival, rock show,” Tobey said. “Even if BUB was there, what are you going to do? Hold her up like she’s Simba or something?”
Still, Bridavsky said the music has BUB written all over it.
“She knows it’s hers,” he said.
