Album Review: The Bohicas - The Making Of

13 August 2015 | 2:24 pm | Pete Laurie

"It's obvious things are gonna get real loud, real soon."

Starting strong The Bohicas (barely) restrain the guitars and energy on I Do It For Your Love. It's obvious things are gonna get real loud, real soon on The Making Of. But the band wants to tease us a little first. Things start to loosen up on To Die For with more instruments, more production, more harmonies, more sonic ambition. And all of that 'more' really pays off. Only You brings a poppier edge to The Bohicas' sound that does nothing to dampen the rock'n'roll attitude, while Girlfriend is what everything before it has been building to; unhinged in places, poppily melodic in others, deliberate and honed from top to bottom. There's no fat to be trimmed from a song like this.

The title track proves you can combine post-millennium garage rock with cock-rocking guitar solos and even some anthemic "doop doops" to get the crowd singing along. Just when you think the energy levels are red-lining, the wall-to-wall, machine-gun lyrics and urgent tempo of Where You At, followed by with the pissed-off sneer of XXX, and capped off with the relentless attack of Swarm, knock it all up another notch. The Bohicas bring the sludge in Somehow You Know What I Mean, without losing any of the melodic lightness that keeps The Making Of move at such a breathless clip. The duelling, shredding guitar solos don't hurt either. The Making Of is a debut that doesn't just show promise or potential. It's proof of a band already comfortable in its skin and ready to rock their way.