Making of Bohicas [LP]

Essex indie quartet the Bohicas arrive with a tailwind of hype on their 2015 debut, The Making Of. Their double-A-side single "XXX" and "Swarm" (both included here) arrived in 2014 heralding their newly inked deal with Domino and introducing a band with a razor-sharp, guitar-based sound whose roots lay in big-budget early-2000s indie and garage. Aided by a trio of rock industry producers in Mark Rankin (Queens of the Stone Age), Chris Hughes (Tears for Fears), and Oli Bayston (Toy), the Bohicas turn in a solid first effort populated with plenty of punch, crunch, and flashes of real vitality. "Only You" highlights some of their best aspects by pairing cool-groove verses with a warm, sunny call-and-response chorus chock-full of sweet harmonies. Opener "I Do It for Your Love" hums with a wiry intensity and some more of those nice thick harmonies supporting a clever chorus. Elsewhere, they effuse a laddish front, peppering their sound with jagged guitar riffs and showing a clear debt to bands like the Arctic Monkeys and the Strokes. There are plenty of inspired moments on The Making Of in spite of i's shiny veneer and slightly uneven makeup, making the Bohicas' debut a sturdy one. ~ Timothy Monger