The Bohicas - The Making of

With its mixture of meaty, crunching riffs, glossy sheen, and ever-present bed of throbbing electronics, The Bohicas’ debut album hits on a formula which is half Kasabian and half the classic early 80s rock of Journey and Loverboy.

Tracks such as opener ‘I Do It for Your Love’ and ballad 'Red Raw' might play with tension and darkness, but their slick riff-a-rama means they still work perfectly well as a Saturday night soundtrack for suburban lads down the pub. Elsewhere, it’s uncomplicated rock ‘n’ roll good vibes all round. ‘To Die For’, ‘Girlfriend’, and ‘Only You’ put one in mind of the largely forgotten likes of Hard-Fi, Jet, and The Fratellis, bands whose blokey, stodgy take of 00s rock went over well with people who were still excited by the idea of a new Oasis record.

To be fair to The Bohicas (that name is also so 00s), there’s no real indication that they’re aiming to be anything other than being a big, mainstream rock band, and they might have done enough on this record to set them on the path to achieving that. The only thing that might stand in their way is the general air of anonymity which hangs over The Making of. The Bohicas are competent, but they never really cut loose. Part of the problem is frontman Dominic McGuinness’ undemanding vocals, which allow the depthless production of the music slide right past the listener.

The band’s tour documentary, Swarm Over Essexxx, might go some way to making up for this album’s general lack of character. Either way, almost every track The Making of is a hooky, undemanding rocker which would work perfectly fine soundtracking an episode of Hollyoaks. Why aim higher, eh, lads?