mvm.

But there’s no selfish way to love, ‘Cause then there wouldn’t be love: New York band parcel up Broken Equipment and deliver a warmer return to the revived post-punk scene

BODEGA were never one with labels. Be it genre or explicit categorisation, they consciously expanded their musical palettes careening away from the post-punk revival show they were lumped in with, using every other influence we have heard elsewhere.

Broken Equipment finally landed after 2018’s debut Endless Scroll in March this year. So let’s take a deep dive. Gone are the angry expressions, the flaccid ?! punctuation and in its place, is a band – like many who operate in the plethoras of punk symbolism – have just learned to live and adapt with all the problems that keep us grounded. Religion, work, technology. Encompassing sardonic witty one-liners, they reel you in with more harmonious and astute attention to detail.

Fairly safe in structure – although not entirely complacent, mind – wiry post-punk ladled bass-driven Doers throws punches at losing yourself in the black hole that is your phone and culture encouragement to endless working. It kicks off the album with the BODEGA we were used to on their debut. But certainly don’t expect the same upkeep to be made throughout. The change in mentality brings about delicate homages to love with Pillar on the Bridge of You and heartbreak via After Jane when losing a loved one. One could argue that a change of mentality that is quite frankly, not exactly post-punk but as mentioned before, BODEGA are never one to be labelled to one state. Their influences of lightweight indie fluff to more hard-hitting hip hop undertones bring about a fully-fleshed album of swooning creativity of my my, they have been busy finding themselves.

While they embrace differences, they can’t quite escape their New York-ism (the jury is still out if this is a word or not) and the rich history of punk that city has soaked up over the years. Statuette on the Console is a reincarnation of Rocket to Russia Ramones, if I’ve ever heard of one.

Not to mention the aforementioned of New York themselves with NYC (disambiguation) and How Can I Help Ya?

A rare meteoric rise from once-turned filmmakers, BODEGA is a fulfilment to the post-punk revival scene and has earned its spot. Not quite eye-candy indie or soft electronica but neither walking the straight-edged line of post-punk all the way either, this is new BODEGA. Worth a listen, don’t ya think?