Norway’s Bokassa kickstart a new chapter today, unveiling their blisteringly anthemic new single Hellbilly Handfishin’.
The video sees the trio take to the streets of rural Norway in a rental car en route to playing shows. Vocalist and guitarist Jørn Kaarstad explains ‘The song is a tongue in cheek ode to slackers so we decided to make a video in that spirit, attaching a GoPro to the dashboard and whilst we sang along with the track. While we mainly dabble in misanthropic songs about the state of the world, cults and whatnot, we decided to just make a nihilistic party song you can sing along to on a friday night while handfishin’ with your bestfriends while chugging some cheap Famous Grouse mixed with Pepsi Max. Because, why not?’.
The track is produced by Yngve Andersen (Blood Command), and is the band’s first single since their signing to Norwegian independent label Loyal Blood Records. Jørn comments “We signed with Norway’s Loyal Blood Records because they have released a lot of our favourite records from Norway, so we trust them!”
Taking influence from punk, hardcore and thrash, sprinkled with a healthy does of stoner riffs, Bokassa formed around four years ago. 2015 saw the release of their first EP War On Everything, followed by their debut album Divide & Conquer. Widespread praise for the record perked up the ears of Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, who named them his “favourite new band”, alongside Metal Hammer who rated the LP 8/10. Single Crocsodile Dundee garnered support from BBC Radio 1’s Daniel P. Carter.
This also provided Bokassa with a hefty touring schedule in Norway, and their recent UK debut live show at London’s Boston Music Room alongside Palm Reader and Haggard Cat.
Bokassa have spent much of 2018 working on new music, and are now gearing up for Norwegian festivals this summer, including. Øyafestival, Pstereofestival, Kanalrock Festival , Steinkjerfestivalen and Malakoff Rock Festival. Watch this space for further news.
BOKASSA Live
19th Jul – Malkoff Festival, Nordfjordeid (NO)
3rd Aug – Kanalrock Festival, Horten (NO)
9th Aug – Øyafestival, Oslo (NO)
13th Jul – 13th Jul – Stavernfestivalen, Stavern (NO)
16th Aug – Pstereo Festival, Trondheim (NO)