The latest single from Brooklyn's BODEGA breaks new ground for the band in that it's a straight up love song. BODEGA has avoided the subject for quite some time, but Ben Hozie wrote "Pillar on the Bridge of Love" about bandmate and partner Nikki Belfigio. Seeing as this is a love song, it's a softer more gentle and nearly pop version of their dance friendly post punk. It's still a BODEGA song, just a BODEGA love song.
Ben Hozie explains the band's new song:
“Our band, for the most part, has avoided pop’s universal subject matter: love. Not because we think it an unworthy subject, but because I haven’t been sure how to approach it in BODEGA’s style.”
You can watch the video for "Pillar on the Bridge of Love" below. Broken Equipment is due out March 11 on What's Your Rupture?, and can be pre-ordered and pre-saved here. For more on BODEGA, check out the band's Facebook and Instagram. Upcoming tour dates are below the video.
Thu. Jul. 21 - Philadelphia PA @ Milkboy
Friday, July 22 - Washington, DC @ Comet Ping Pong
Saturday, July 23 - Charlotte @ Snug Harbor
Sunday, July 24 - Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
Monday, July 25 - Nashville, TN @ Third Man
Tuesday, July 26 - Memphis, TN @ Hi-Tone
Thursday, July 28 - Dallas, TX @ Three Links
Friday, July 29 - Houston, TX @ Wonky Power
Saturday, July 30 - Austin, TX @ Antone's
Monday, August 1 - El Paso, TX @ Lowbrow Palace
Tuesday, August 2 - Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress
Wednesday, August 3 - Phoenix, AZ @ Trunk Space
Thursday, August 4 - San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar
Friday, August 5 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo
Saturday, August 6 - San Francisco, CA @ Cafe Du Nord
Monday, August 8 - Portland, OR @ Holocene
Tuesday, August 9 - Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore
Wednesday, August 10 - Seattle, WA @ Vera Project
Friday, August 12 - Boise, ID @ The Shredder
Sunday, August 14 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
Monday, August 15 - Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive
Wednesday, August 17 - Omaha, NE @ Reverb Lounge
Thursday, August 18 - Minneapolis, MN @ Turf Club
Friday, August 19 - Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club
Saturday, August 20 - Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village
Sunday, August 21 - Cleveland, OH @ Mahall’s
Tuesday, August 23 - Toronto, ON @ The Garrison
Wednesday, August 24 - Montreal, QB @ Bar Le Ritz
Thursday, August 25 - Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground
Friday, August 26 - Boston, MA @ Crystal Ballroom
Saturday, August 27 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Made
Somehow Peter Prescott of Mission of Burma and Volcano Suns has another band that I never knew about. Minibeast already released an album that I completely missed back in 2012, and they are currently at work on the follow up, Free Will. Based on a track from the upcoming album, "High Sea," Minibeast shares some common sonic ground with Mission of Burma, but with an added emphasis on the groovy side of things. It's basically the noise and dissonance of Burma but heard through a 60s surf groove, as if Frankie and Annette were punks. You can listen to "High Sea" below. Minibeast currently have a Kickstarter to help fund the final production of Free Will. You can get more information on that here . It should be out sometime in June.
Earlier this week I was expressing sympathy for Limp Bizkit. Limp Bizkit just don't seem to be riding that surge of 90s nostalgia that all sorts of other terrible bands from that era are. Sure, they're terrible. But are they really that much worse than Filter, Alien Ant Farm, and other bands on those 90s nostalgia packages. And then this video is released. The first lyrics to the song are literally "Go fuck yourself." It then features Fred Durst sitting on a toilet, bikini clad chicks pretending to fellate garden hoses and leaf blowers, and Fred Durst talking about fucking bitches, all while wearing a hoodie and a backwards red baseball hat. Then Lil Wayne comes out. Please keep in mind Fred Durst is a 42 year old man.
Photo by Annabel Kean For their latest single, New Zealand's The Beths have released "Mother, Pray for Me." This is a heartbreaking ballad consisting of Elizabeth Stokes' vocals and guitar with just the slightest hint of organ. It's a deeply personal song for Stokes, made obvious with how intimately the song comes across. It truly feels almost confessional, and it's quite simply beautiful. The Beths are most known for huge little indie rock gems perfect for bopping along to, but "Mother, Pray for Me" is quite the opposite. Stokes' vocals and lyrics are right up front on this one, and I can't imagine it any other way. Elizabeth Stokes says of her latest single: “I cried the whole time writing it. It's not really about my mother, it's about me — what I hope our relationship is, what I think it is, what it maybe actually is, and what I can or can't expect out of it. “My mother is a first gen Indonesian immigrant, and very Catholic....
