bodega-bay-performance-video-premiere

Bodega Bay – “Performance” (video) (premiere)

Provocative lo-fi, art rock romp packed to the gills with dexterous wordplay and sub-three-minute blasts of perception that are surprisingly tuneful in spite of their non-production...

“Performance” opens Bodega Bay’s sensational, 33-track debut release, Our Brand Could Be Your Life. The album is one of this year’s under the radar highlights and works as both an of the moment document of DIY culture in Brooklyn circa 2015, and also a funny, provocative lo-fi, art rock romp packed to the gills with dexterous wordplay and sub-three-minute blasts of perception that are surprisingly tuneful in spite of their non-production (all songs were recorded with an internal Mac mic in Garageband). “Performance” serves as the perfect opener for what is to come, throwing out observations on what it means to be a part of the “rock and pop apparatus” in this day and age, doing so in a way that is energetic, all-inclusive, slightly shambolic, and wholly entertaining.

According to songwriter Bodega Ben, the “Performance” video’s aim was to return the music video to its initial function as an advertisement for a band. Thus, the video is a fun, zippy intro to the band, a lo-fi spin on the brevity and sexiness we’ve come to expect from the commercials which inundate us every day (albeit one with a homage to Richard Serra’s “Color Aid” in tow). Bodega wares are shilled throughout, among them the 33 ⅓-style Our Brand… lyric book and Bodega beer — which does not yet exist, but I would wager actually tastes like Jarritos Guava Soda and, once imbibed, would compel you to watch seven of Jean-Luc Godard’s post-1960s films in a row.

Our Brand Could Be Your Life is available now through the band’s Bandcamp page.