LI Sound: Manorville's Bohemians' new album is irresistible
Bohemians perform during the 2018 Great South Bay Music Festival in Patchogue. Credit: Michael Owens
Bohemians is ready to go, or, well, grow.
“We’ve been sitting on a lot of songs for a long time,” says singer Luke Lotardo. “It feels good to have people hear some of them.”
In January, the synth-pop quartet from Manorville released the charming, Killers-like single “Start Creating,” but the follow-up “Grow” (Bohemians) is even more irresistible.
Blending bits of New Order and the new-millennium new-new wavers like Interpol with a catchy chorus, “Grow” plays like a dance hit that could have arrived at any time in the past three decades.
Part of its success is Lotardo’s pining on the chorus, “I’d rather watch your love grow, even if I am alone.”
Long Island has produced all sorts of rockers over the years, as well as countless hip-hop stars and pop divas. But somehow, there hasn’t been a major synth-pop act to break out of the area, despite being home to first-rate ones like My Favorite and its descendants The Secret History.
Maybe Bohemians, whose singles suggest eclectic influences, will change that, though Lotardo says the band is currently happy to keep building its audience.
“It feels so good to be part of the Long Island scene,” he says.
Contact The Long Island Sound at glenn.gamboa@newsday.com or follow @ndmusic on Twitter.
