Brand On The Run / Our Brand Could Be Yr Life by BODEGA

Wikipedia strangely calls the band at #29, New York City’s BODEGA, a “punk band,” when nothing could be farther from the truth. Granted, my only experience with the band is their phenomenal fifth album, Our Brand Could Be Yr Life (which has a differently named deluxe version: Brand on the Run – an album name I am predisposed to love given its connection to the band Wings and to the word “brand,” which is the type of work I do in the daylight hours). It is most definitely not a punk album.

I guess I have more listening to do to truly understand who BODEGA the band is, and until that time I’ll concentrate on this latest album only. I’ve been listening to the album since just December 11, which is the day I pinged my more musically-inclined friends to ask them “what albums would you be disappointed to not see on this year’s Top 31?” My friend Ryan suggested BODEGA, and I couldn’t be happier about his suggestion.

He recommended I start listening at “Myrtle Parade,” featured in the video above, which is also track 1 of the bonus songs included in the aforementioned deluxe version. That song is indicative of a lot of the songs on the album – catchy, poppy, strong bass line and very much out of sync with the other indie-rock sounds of today. This song feels more like an early 90s song you’d hear on MTV’s 120 Minutes, paired with Camper van Beethoven and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin. Other songs, like “ATM,” or the album-closing “N.A.S.S.,” must be outtakes from an early 80s Adam and the Ants album. “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Drum” stole its baseline from Green Day.

New wave, post-punk, “alternative” – anything but punk. Give some more songs a listen. “Cultural Controvery III” – a jangly, fast moving song on the album, has two similar-but-different slower versions, titled “I” and “II” naturally. The band even released a “IV” that is not on the album. Other videos from the album that you can enjoy are “Tarkovski” and “City Is Taken,” the latter of which has Nikki Belfiglio taking over on vocals.

BODEGA have been around for about 10 years, and the songs on Brand are apparently a retelling of songs the band recorded in 2015 under the slightly different “Bodega Bay” name. As you can tell from this review, the band jumps all over the place in their sound, begging us to commit to multiple repeat listens to fully understand what they’re driving at. I’ve done so, and will continue to do so, as I find myself being rewarded in new ways each time.