Bohica come from Guildford and started up in 2002. They bring a strong, ballsy melodic rock sound to the ballpark, which throws in elements of hardcore, punk…even a bit of the dreaded emo maybe too. Vocalist James Burns has a strong voice and the guitars are de-tuned enough to get an element of heaviness, whilst never really sounding too deep or dark. ‘No Apologies’, their new record out on Casket Music, is a decent enough stab at powerful, melodic music. It’s nothing exceptional, but is honest and raw and aggressive, without ever being exceptional.
‘Fragments’ and ‘Flinch’ are controlled rock songs that never really break the shackles, but they still carry a melody and have enough in them to have your foot tapping. ‘Paractemol’ and ‘Crawl’ impress too, not because they’re particularly fresh or new, but because they’re good old-fashioned rock songs. The closing ‘I Move On’ is a tender moment, if a little clichéd to end on an acoustic track. At 12 songs this is probably a little long and I did lose interest a bit, but the good moments far outweigh the bad. Bohica are taking on a lot of radio-friendly US acts on and beating them – and you could do worse than to check them out.
www.bohica.co.uk
Casket Music
Paul
