EP Review BODEGA - Shiny New Model

‘Shiny New Model’ arrives barely a year after ‘Endless Scroll’ cemented BODEGA as one of the most wildly fun acts in Brooklyn. By the sounds of this mini album, they’re still having a blast. The title track is about being in an actual bodega (a corner shop to us Brits). It starts out with a jaunty guitar lick and Pavement-style vocals, as intermittent choruses declare “you can increase up your service charge, but you’re competing with a shiny new model”. Ben Hozie’s clearly not too enthused about the latest wave of technological advancements, but he sounds like he’s enjoying yelping about it. Tracks like the whirring ‘No Vanguard Revival’ and the buoyant ‘Realism’ are barely a minute long. To make up for that, final track ‘Truth Is Not Punishment’ (a reworking of ‘Endless Scroll’’s original version) spans ten. A bustling jam of sing-a-long vocal hooks and angular guitar solos, it voyages through dynamic peaks and lulls with the same toe-tapping spirit that was promised on the band’s debut. Channeling everyone from Talking Heads to ESG, BODEGA remain as giddy and funked-up as ever. And on this highly danceable new addition they barely make a mis-step.