New York art pop band Bodega made their UK debut last week after buzzing at SXSW in Texas in March. The band playing two shows at The Great Escape in Brighton where they created quite a stir, with queues forming down the street under an hour before their second gig.
The five-piece group draw influences from post-punk, contemporary pop, krautrock and art-rock, through which they have embodied their own narrative of poetic expression melded with fetching melody.
The band consists of filmmakers and vocalists Ben Hozie and Nikki Belfiglio, Montana Simone on drums, Madison Velding-Vandam on guitar and Heather Elle on bass.
Their debut single ‘How Did This Happen!?’ incorporates a sociopolitical commentary style and is accompanied by a 360 live video recorded at their favourite venue Alphaville in Brooklyn which gives a glimpse into their live performances, showing off a glimmer of how the band transmit the energy from their music right through to their live performances, despite the (intentionally) inattentive crowd. The video is music as performance and a commentary on how we engage with that.
‘How Did This Happen!?’ was followed by ‘Can’t Knock The Hustle’ and ‘Jack In Titanic’, both songs demonstrating lyrical wit whilst projecting a poetic charm. “And no ones dances, writes, or fights, or fucks, or makes love quite like me except Jack in Titanic,” is one line of the latter song. It’s concerned with values of being a man and how this perception of who a man is supposed to be is learned by characters depicted in movies, such as the character played by Leonardo di Caprio in Titanic.
Fortunately, there isn’t too long to wait to hear how their debut album will sound, Endless Scroll, out on the What’s Your Rupture? label which was recorded and produced by Austin Brown of Parquet Courts, is out on next week on Friday, June 1st.
