If you believe their (probably) tongue-in-cheek hype, Bub is probably your new favourite band. Mixing doo-wop harmonies with post-punk energy, they make songs that hit you right in the feelings while still making you want to dance. Released in May, the Tāmaki Makaurau four-piece act’s debut album, ‘Can’t Even’, is a fearless fusion of heartbreak, humour and post-punk grit. Nur Peach spoke with Bub-star Priya Sami to verify all the above.

Bub is Priya Sami’s latest project. She’s previously made a name for herself as one third of alt-country trio The Sami Sisters, and with her electronic/RnB project Trip Pony. Bub reveals a new side of Sami’s artistry; a noisy and unapologetically candid brand of rock. In the band’s debut album, ‘Can’t Even’, distorted guitar, singable pop hooks and catchy harmonies abound, with Sami’s powerhouse vocals always at the forefront.

Bub, like so much music before it, began with a breakup. 

“It was the beginning of Covid,” Sami confesses. “It was very complicated with bubbles and stuff. I started writing some songs about being better, and acknowledging some things that I hadn’t been doing, kind of like breakup letters, like admitting to not being good at some things. You know, when you fight about the same shit all the time, and for ages you’re like, ‘I have done nothing wrong,’ and then you’re like, ‘Okay, that was sort of stink?’ 

“I made a chat group with all my friends, and cos most of my mates are musicians I was like, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun if we had a band that played all these breakup songs?’ And then I was like, ‘Oh… Break Up Band! Bub!’ Bub also is what my family calls me. I’m the youngest of my immediate family and then I’ve got a lot of cousins, and they always call the little ones bub. And I just thought, ‘That’s a cute name!’”

Bub, the band, rotated through a few different lineups before arriving at the current one which has Daniel Barrett (Racing, Sherpa) on bass, David Harris (Princess Chelsea, Sulfate) drumming and Joe Kaptein (Six60, The Circling Sun) playing synths. Previous members include Jana Te Nahu Owen and Alex Freer, who drummed on Bub’s debut single King of Wands. Released in 2021, that song centres around the idea of asking tarot cards for relationship advice, which came from personal experience.

“I was shuffling my tarot cards and I said, ‘Is he my soulmate?’ And then, guess what came out? The tower! It’s the worst card in the pack! It’s like complete destruction. It’s not a good sign. And do you know what I did? I didn’t listen to it!”

Over the years since Bub slowly unveiled further singles Jeez Louise (2021), Dreams (2022), before hitting their straps in 2025 with the ‘fuck Valentines Day’ release Phase 2 and New Amsterdam. The video for Dreams, directed by Liv McClymont and funded by NZ On Air is particularly notable. In a comedic take on the fishing show format, hilarious antics ensue as Sami tries to catch not fish, but the perfect man.

“I love fishing! When we got funding I thought how cool it would be to take the band on a charter and have our own fishing show. And then I was like, ‘What if we fish up men? And measure them like fish but with a Mary Poppins-esque tape!’ It was a two-day shoot out at Maraetai – beautiful weather and hectic schedule, but incredible fun and funny!”

The video for Phase 2, directed by Ruby Walsh, has a more DIY feel, following Sami through the streets of Auckland at night.

“Me and Ruby just shot it one night after dinner, and they shot it with their iPhone. It’s basically the walk that I would take from K Rd to Mt Eden where I lived. Not always by myself! If I was by myself, I’d have my keys in my knuckles, you know?”

In the video of course Sami appears to be by herself, reflecting the themes in the lyrics.

“Phase 2 is about being alone, or when you’re at the end of the night and you’re going home and you kind of feel like, ‘I wish I had a person.’ And then you start thinking about people you have been with, and you’re like, ‘Maybe you weren’t so bad…’”

Many of the songs on ‘Can’t Even’ explore similarly personal subject matter. In the punchy yet melodic New Amsterdam, for instance, Sami tackles the grisly subject of self-doubt. ‘You were the one who told me that I had potential, and I have none’, she belts in the chorus. ‘I’m lazy, not ambitious.’

“I’ve had people tell me I have potential, a lot in my life,” Sami smiles. “Potential to me is a bit scary, because it puts pressure on you to be something, when you’re already hard on yourself. I’ve always felt like I’m not doing enough. My whole life I’ve either gone like, ‘I’m too old,’ or ‘No matter how much I try in music, no one’s gonna care.’ Then sometimes I check myself, or my family’s really good at saying, ‘Well, you just did this, and you just did that. If it was your friend who was in the same position as you, what would you say to them?’ And I’d be like, ‘Oh, yeah. I would be a lot nicer, and really proud of them!’”

Released in NZ Music Month, the album features all of Bub’s previous singles. Sami acknowledges it’s been a long time coming.

“I always think it’s all gonna happen real fast! Some things happen fast, and then… it’s taken five years to make this album. I did a post the other day to announce the album release date, and I put that Mainland cheese ad, you know, good things take time? I thought it was funny!”

The album was engineered and co-produced by Bob Frisbee at his Auckland studio The Noise Floor.

“I love it because there’s light, and not many studios have real light! Sunlight is important, I think. Vitamin D ain’t no lie. It was such a nice environment. It’s all open, and The Beths’ studio is next door. There’s just lots of people coming and going, and everyone’s so kind and clever. Music is such a collaborative process, even people popping in when you’re mixing a song and going, ‘Oh, that sounds good!’ It’s the little kind of encouragement that you need. Bob’s such a warm, helpful person in our music world, and honestly, I don’t know where I’d be without him, cos he’s just so there for everyone and the door is always open.”

In a throwback from Sami’s teenage years the album includes a re-recorded version of Mrs Julian Casablancas, written at age 15 and first appearing on the 2005 Play It Strange compilation. Sami’s matured vocals are heartwarmingly evident, but nevertheless the song’s plucky teenage spirit remains in lyrics which denounce ‘boys her age’ in favour of a crush on the titular Strokes’ frontman.

“I got to record it with David Holmes at Kog Transmissions and that was my first experience of a real studio, when I was 17! I love The Strokes, so I just wrote a song about being his wife, because that’s what 15 year-olds aspire to! I wanted to release that on this album because I wanted to tell that teenage Priya that she is cool, and that her songs aren’t shit.”