The third album from the American punk cultural commentators sees the band go back to the beginning to move steadily forward. Eight years ago, a band known as Bodega Bay created a double album, thirty-three songs full of noise and very lo-fi.
Whilst being treated like a Brian Wilson epic it was shaped and produced via scrappy MacBook, GarageBand and distorted amps. And though these tracks barely made the airwaves outside of their hometown of Bushwick, Brooklyn they retained a special place in their hearts.
Slimming the aforementioned tracks down to a steady fifteen, Bodega has given them a fresh outlook with purpose and poise. This record provides the band with a far more radio-friendly, pop sheen but still manages to retain that post-punk ethos their first couple of albums initially sold to us. The rough around the edge vibe has been slimmed down somewhat but creates enough noise to warrant a place in a modern-day punk hall of fame.
Having said all this the opening track ‘Dedicated To The Dedicated’ is one of two new songs (the other City Is Taken bookends the album perfectly) Dedicated… is a three-minute romp of a song with a rousing, sing-along chorus and whilst it isn’t like their previous album opening songs it is certainly a strong indication of where this new outlook will take us.
‘G.N.D Deity’ introduces us to the vocal duo of Ben Hoize and Nikki Belfiglo. With an early Nirvana-enthused bass line dancing through the song, Belfiglo steals the show with 70’s punk voice reaching Joan Jett levels of delight and destruction. ‘Bodega Bait’ has a heady, fuzzy guitar hook running through its short spell of driven rock.
The highlight of the album for me is ‘Tarkovski’ which rolls along sounding like a classic Pavement anthem. Another glorious riff that expands into a wonderful jamming session that is built for stadium rock whilst keeping a true DIY groove. Drum fills a plenty and again the vocal duo helps bring the song alive. Delightful stuff. ‘Major Amberson’ brings the tone down but still sounds wonderful with its early R.E.M refrain and chord structure, it’s a beautiful interlude to the fuzzy sounds around it.
‘Stain Glaze’ launches into a world of late 80’s and early 90’s rock distortion and whilst it doesn’t quite take off where I imagined it was going to go it is still a blissed-out, joyous nod to alt-rock and all those who created it. ‘ATM’ drags Bodega back to their punk roots with more shouty, raucous vocals, you’ll be shouting along with its simplicity and visceral chorus. ‘Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Drum’ has a delicious, Pixies-like bass (Adam See on bass has done a superb job on this record) and more itchy vocals to clamber along with.
There’s a trilogy of songs on this record (Cultural Consumer I, II and III ) that pull the album along its spaced-out trajectory. Each part brings its key element to the fore and whilst parts I and II are short bursts of melodic Archers Of Loaf-infused rock it is Part III that wins the race with an even bigger and better shout-a-long chorus that modern-day NYC punk is built for. Just like the band Parquet Courts the song is spiky and superb.
Our Brand Could Be Yr Life is a solid example of proof that sometimes you have to look backwards and reflect to move forward. In doing so Bodgea has released a tight, delightful collection of songs that over time and space have grown into something wonderful.
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