After one album where their itchy, angular new wave rock took listeners for a snark-filled, postmodern trip (
Endless Scroll
) and one where they cleaned up their sound and parked the snark in favor of a more nuanced lyrical stance (
Broken Equipment
),
Bodega
have made an album that combines the best of both albums into a sleek, snappy, and sharply witty modern indie rock record. Unlike the previous two albums, the stars of
Our Brand Could Be Yr Life
are the guitars. They are recorded live and tough, punching above their weight and giving the songs a live-wire excitement that was surely missing on the last record. That's not to say the vocals of
Ben Hozie
(arch and insistent) and
Nikki Belfiglio
(vibrant and yelpy) are sidelined or that the lyrics (still anti-capitalist and very non-rock & roll) don't score the same number of points; it's just that now the whole thing is wrapped up tight in a staticky, distortion-heavy ball of indie rock goodness. Songs like "Bodega Bait" or "Stain Gaze" have a grinding, tough sound that's hard not to get swept up in, "Tarkovski" jangles and slashes in a joyous collision of folk-rock and post-punk, "Born into by What Consumes" balances backwards fuzz and chiming psych, "City Is Taken" rings and rattles like
Big Country
-meets-glam, and "Cultural Consumer III" has sparkling
Television
-like give-and-take -- it's a guitar lover's dream from start to finish. Even those who aren't thrilled by the sounds of a well-recorded, diversely toned guitar soundscape will find that the sheer number of hooks, the pleasing variety of song styles, and the pointed lyrical stance are enough to keep the album firmly lodged in the win column. And for any who feel that the band needed to expand their sound a little, there is the relaxed ballad "Webster Hall," which swerves dangerously close to classic rock territory when the massive guitar solos begin to intertwine, or "Protean," a murky pop song that sounds like early
R.E.M.
thanks to the intertwined jangle of the guitars. Again, it's all about the guitars.
have tapped into something really powerful by relying on them to give the band's sound a boost.
may not be the group's most exciting album (
) or their most immediate (
likely gets that nod), but it is the one fans are likely to go back to more often as it provides the richest, best-sounding release they've had so far. ~ Tim Sendra