BODEGA

Brudenell Presents... With support from - Mên An Tol “I never thought of us as a post-punk band,” stresses Ben Hozie, singer and guitarist in the NYC-based band BODEGA. “I just thought of us as a conceptual rock band.” This might come as a surprise to those who’ve been following the band over the last several years. BODEGA’s previous albums — 2018’s Endless Scroll, 2022’s Broken Equipment, and 2024’s Our Brand Could Be Your Life — drew well-earned comparisons to post-punk icons like Talking Heads, the B-52s, Devo, and Sonic Youth. “Post-punk is conceptual punk, so that lent itself to our thing early on,” says Hozie, “but at the end of the day, it’s about our songwriting.” Truthfully, the post-punk tag hasn’t been apt for some time now. Our Brand Could Be Your Life, a rerecording of a 2015 album by an earlier incarnation of the group called Bodega Bay, was more inspired by classic indie rock bands like Pavement and Guided By Voices. Last year’s Rot in Helvetica, by the group’s alter ego NODEGA, saw them go in the opposite direction, delving into the sound of classic hardcore punk like Black Flag and 7 Seconds. BODEGA’s new album, All Inside Aquarium, sees the band stray further than ever from these post-punk origins. The group’s goal was, “Let's go back to melodic tunes, let's be more of a proper rock band,” Hozie explains. Sonically, the band aimed for “this late ‘80s/early ‘90s Stone Roses-meets-Jane’s Addiction thing, with more riffing and guitar solos.”