Hug

Known for raucous live performances, Casio porn-punks Hug find a home on vinyl for the first time in their now-infrequent two-plus decades of existence. Curated by local percussionist and experimental stalwart Thor Harris for Joyful Noise's White Label Series (he joins fellow 2019 curators St. Vincent and Thurston Moore), the compilation pulls in 11 of the band's gleefully explicit studio tracks ("Hot Bucket of Fuck," "She Don't") across half a dozen releases, closing with two soundboard takes from Halloween 1998 ("Lickable Hole," "Shit Sex"). Supplemented live with dancers, Blair Bovbjerg's lyrics are both puerile and pointed, while the choppy guitar strokes of longtime Chronicle staff photographer John Anderson mesh well with the simple backbeat from Scott Van Horn's toy keyboards. An undoubtedly trying listen for those approaching these locals with fresh (maybe not-so-young) ears, A Young Person's Guide to Hug is a grower, not a shower.