Our Brand Could Be Yr Life :: OndaRock Reviews

What is the difference between an artist and an advertiser?
(“Bodega Bait”)

How much is an artist driven by real creative urgency or how much is he just an advertiser who wants to sell his products? In their latest release, “Our Brand Could Be Yr Life”, paraphrasing the book onunderground American of the 90s “Our Band Could Be Your Life”, Bodega dare to ask themselves this question. And they do it by resorting to a rather unusual operation: they choose to return to their past with the retrieval of the songs written on the pre-debut album, when they still had the company name Bodega Bay.
In this sort of prequel of the Bodega experience, the New York band reviews and rearranges all the material, even rewriting some parts to present it again in a new guise that takes advantage of all the skills acquired in these years of activity.

Already the assailant open track “Dedicated To The Dedicated” is a clear statement of intent, full of changes of direction and with a proud refrain.

I don’t know who I’ll be I will sing my song no matter what you think of me.

Compared to previous productions, curated by Austin Brown of Parquet Courts, the New York band decides to act autonomously, and one immediately notices greater attention to the melody, to tonal changes and, as declared by the leader and singer Ben Hozie, there is a desire to go beyond the minimal style post-punk.
“Tarkovski”, the launch single, represents the band’s new direction well: I start with riff sharp and repetitive, followed by a quick refrain that liquefies into a psychedelic digression to better immerse us in the zone of “Stalker”, a film by the famous Russian director.
A certain devotion to the atmospheres of the Nineties is also confirmed: “Major Amberson” would not look out of place in “Automatic For The People” and “Stain Gaze” seems to come from the pen of the most inspired Pixies, while “Cultural Consumer I” has the staggering pace of Pavement.

The more introspective moments are very convincing, when between the soft arpeggios of “Webster Hall” and in the rough college rock of “Bodega Bait” they bring into play their role as rockers in the contemporary era between conventions and clichés.
In the triptych “Cultural Consumer I, II, III” Bodega’s ferocious pen does not even spare the cultural user, considered a pure consumer oppressed by the massive offer and victim of induced mechanisms, rather than moved by an authentic drive for knowledge.
There is no shortage of post-punk dance to the Lcd Soundsystem which, characterized by the ringing voice of the singer Nikki Belfiglio, emerges among the base instincts tickled by online pornography of “GND Deity” or in the tribalism of “Atm”, in which the ATM, also depicted in the cover, is sanctified and elected as a symbol of neocapitalism.

Perhaps, because it is linked to the band’s pre-debut, in which the direction to follow was not yet clear, “Our Brand Could Be Yr Life” turns out to be a good playlist, even if less compact than the previous albums in terms of sound.
However, the message seems clear: Bodega want to get out of the cage of the post-punk revival and free themselves from the label of being one of the many emerging New York bands. Will it be a market move or pure creative impulse?

04/21/2024