Seeing Bodega Bay live isn’t just witnessing live music, it’s witnessing the creation of a mystical time and place, an immersive and all-enveloping spectacle. Their performances involve seafaring get-ups, many a half-destroyed mannequin stage prop, weird lighting, cross-dressing, and samplers that spit out words like “corporate brain” alongside a full art rock band. Bodega Bay is a place, not a band. It’s also probably a brand (2015 double LP will be called “Our Brand Could Be Your Life”).
16 x 9 is a “wintery NYC love ballad” that makes a lot of sense to me right now sitting in my frigid NYC apartment a few days before Christmas. The opening chords sound like they’re from a Velvet Underground song, jangling and looping around under a lo-fi/filtered vocal track that belts out extremely endearing nothingnesses (“and your friend Victoria / with a loft in Astoria / what is her secret? / where the fuck does she keep it?”). Each verse ends in a sort of irresistible shout chorus (“you say you love the flashing lights / you said you were not afraid to die”), bringing necessary energy before bringing it back down to a sultry love ballad yet again.
I don’t have much more to say without ruining the charm of this track, but the band said that this track was the favorite of ex-bassist Josh Fu. I can see why.
You can check out more releases from Bodega Bay on their bandcamp and stream “16 x 9” below via the Youtube embed.
