Bodega are back, and they’ve been doing things differently this time around.
“Pick Up the Check” is out now via Chrysalis Records, the first new music from the New York rock-and-roll quintet since 2024’s ‘Our Brand Could Be Your Life,’ and it signals a real shift in direction. For the first time, the band recorded outside of New York City, heading to Leeds, England to work with producer Matt Peel (Yard Act, Divorce) at the Nave, his studio built inside a deconsecrated church. The track was mixed in Brighton by Theo Verney (English Teacher, Lime Garden). The video, directed by guitarist and vocalist Ben Hozie, is out now on YouTube.
Hozie is direct about what the song is getting at. “I know too many friends who tolerate unfulfilling relationships, either romantic, platonic, artistic, or business, out of politeness or fear of letting others down,” he says. “The real danger of spending time with people who don’t inspire is how their way of being rubs off on your mind and personae. Strike the set, rewrite the draft, and pick up the (metaphorical) check.” It’s the kind of sharp, observational writing that earned Bodega comparisons to Television, Talking Heads, the B-52s and Sonic Youth across three albums, but the sonic palette here is deliberately wider. The band has been channeling a late-80s and early-90s Stone Roses-meets-Jane’s Addiction energy, with more riffing, guitar solos and a warmer, more expansive sound than anything in their back catalog.
The live schedule is strong. Bodega join Spoon and Ratboys for a free show at Central Park Summerstage on July 8, play Elsewhere Rooftop in Brooklyn on August 19, then head to Spain, London and Paris through September before hitting the western half of North America in October supporting Cheekface. More dates are on the way.
Tour Dates:
July 8 — New York, NY — Central Park Summerstage (FREE, with Spoon and Ratboys)
August 19 — Brooklyn, NY — Elsewhere Rooftop
September 4 — Tenerife, ES — Phe Festival
September 5 — Miranda de Ebro, ES — Ebrovisión Festival
September 7 — Madrid, ES — El Sol
September 8 — Valencia, ES — 16 Toneladas
September 9 — Barcelona, ES — Upload
September 10 — Zaragoza, ES — La Lata de Bombillas
September 11 — Donostia, ES — Boga Boga Festival
September 13 — Asten-Heusden, NL — Misty Fields Festival
September 15 — London, UK — 100 Club
September 16 — Paris, FR — Pop Up!
October 11 — Denver, CO — Marquis Theater (with Cheekface)
October 13 — Midvale, UT — The Pearl on Main (with Cheekface)
October 14 — Boise, ID — Shrine Social Club (with Cheekface)
October 15 — Portland, OR — Hathorne (with Cheekface)
October 16 — Vancouver, BC — Wise Hall (with Cheekface)
October 18 — Seattle, WA — Crocodile (with Cheekface)
October 21 — Reno, NV — Holland Project (with Cheekface)
October 22 — Fresno, CA — Strummers (with Cheekface)
October 23 — Berkeley, CA — Cornerstone (with Cheekface)
October 24 — Los Angeles, CA — Teragram Ballroom (with Cheekface)