BODEGA's 'All Inside Aquarium' Is a Warm, Watery Reinvention of a Great Rock Band
The Sonic Breakdown
BODEGA have spent four albums rejecting a label. “I never thought of us as a post-punk band,” Ben Hozie told The Line of Best Fit. “I just thought of us as a conceptual rock band.” All Inside Aquarium is the record that makes the distinction audible. The brief, in Hozie’s words: “Let’s go back to melodic tunes, let’s be more of a proper rock band” — aiming at “this late ’80s/early ’90s Stone Roses-meets-Jane’s Addiction thing, with more riffing and guitar solos.”
The Production & Mix
The Low-End: Six weeks at The Nave in Leeds — a studio built inside a deconsecrated church — with producer Matt Peel, whose work with Yard Act and Eagulls tells you he knows how to keep a rhythm section legible while the room does its thing. The natural reverb of that building is the uncredited fifth member.
The Spatial Dynamics: Theo Verney mixed it in Brighton, bringing the same wide, bright hand he gave English Teacher and Lime Garden. Hozie’s stated goal was “something larger, warmer, watery, and metaphysical,” and the mix chases all four adjectives at once.
Standout Performance
Nikki Belfiglio, on percussion and vocals, who also directed the title-track video and hand-painted the alternate artwork for the limited Bandcamp edition. Her miniature for that video “contains references to all of the songs on the upcoming album” — a drummer building the album’s own concept art out of wood, clay and paper.
Why It’s Certified
“Slow Train” is the key to the thing: not a cover but original music written underneath Bob Dylan’s lyrics, and the first track the band cut with Peel. It was a test recording, and they kept it. Early marks are strong — Uncut’s Bud Scoppa and Record Collector both filed 80s, and Glide led with the headline “BODEGA Trade Post-Punk Angularity for Guitar-Driven Rock.” The title track, Hozie says, “is an attempt at an existential anthem.” It lands as one.