Review
Bogos
Empty Bottles

Voodoo Rhythm (2022) Christopher D

Bogos – Empty Bottles cover artwork
Bogos – Empty Bottles — Voodoo Rhythm, 2022

Sante, Salud, Prost ,Salute ,Saúde,Proost, Skål,Kippis,3а здоровье,乾杯, 건배,干杯 ,Şerefe ,في صحتك , לחיים , ΥΓΕΙΑ , Na zdrowie ,Na zdraví, Cheers!

I sauntered into the dimly lit old man's bar closing the door behind the impeding swirling snowstorm brewing outside. Upon my unnoticed entry(this was no Cheers!-no cries of Norm were echoed by patrons) my eyes were immediately drawn to a weathered figure slumped in a corner booth watching the ash of his cigarette burn into a long lingering arc. He sat alone, hunched over a glass of whiskey and a cheap draft. He wore a tattered cap pulled low over his one eye. Despite his ragged, chiselled appearance, there was something about him that commanded a secondary sideways glance. As I approached, he looked up and met my gaze with eyes that had clearly seen more than their fair share of hardships, pain and utter despair. He motioned for me to sit down not before shooting a quarter asking me to throw it into the jukebox and select The Pogues- Dirty Old Town.

Empty Bottles are going down, one by one and two by two. Hey Mr, Bartender slide me one of the house specials down the well-worn wooden bar.
Bogos are the ultimate theme of this bar. Hailing from Bern Switzerland -Bogos sound like a twisted Pogues, Mano Negra, Gogol Bordello, 16 Horsepower interspersed with a little Merle Haggard, Cash and Flatts and Scruggs. Stripped down toe tapping, drunken jig, arm locked in arm and fisticuff bare-knuckle, fuckle, punch em up beer swillin' slobbering rubbery leg chicken dance.
Bogos are the life source of the stiff corpse at a party. Want to wallow in misery and self-doubt and depression I would suggest digging out your Smiths' greatest hits compilations.
99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer.
Take one down and pass it around, 98 bottles of beer on the wall etc

8 Large Pints Out of Ten!

Bogos – Empty Bottles cover artwork
Bogos – Empty Bottles — Voodoo Rhythm, 2022

Recently-posted album reviews

Armor for Sleep

There Is No Memory
Equal Vision (2025)

Armor For Sleep return with an album that treats memory like a weapon. It’s delicate, devastating, and impossible to disarm. For those who may not be as old as me and missed their emergence into the emo/indie scene, the Teaneck, New Jersey band started in 2001. Led by frontman Ben Jorgensen, they dropped gems like Dream to Make Believe (2003) … Read more

Imploders

Targeted For Termination
Neon Taste Records, Static Shock Records (2025)

Back in or around 2007 my buddy Jake invited me to a show, I’m not even sure he told me who was playing or if he did I hadn’t heard of them yet anyway. Turns out it was Toronto’s Career Suicide who were on tour with Regulations from Sweden. Both bands fucking ripped and I still remember being pretty blown … Read more

Imperial Domain

Portentum
Wormhole Death (2025)

Formed in 1995, Imperial Domain cut their teeth in the Swedish death metal underground with early demos before dropping In the Ashes of the Fallen (1998) and The Ordeal (2003). After the 2014 death of original vocalist, Tobias Heideman, Imperial Domain could’ve folded into the past like so many of their era. Instead, they came back swinging. The band returned … Read more