British Murder Boys – Active Agents and House Boys [2LP]

Britain's best loved absurdist space-rock duo.

Renowned for their explosive live performances, British Murder Boys released a slew of influential 12"s in a short intense period between 2003-2005 on Child’s Counterbalance and Regis’ Downwards labels, before reuniting for a 12” on Mute’s Liberation Technologies imprint in 2012. Recent releases have been sporadic, and include a recent cover of Lou Reed ‘Real Good Time Together’ and a limited-edition cassette documenting their residency at Dutch studio Willem Twee.

Their long awaited but entirely unexpected debut full length album finds Child and O’Connor take somewhat of a departure from the heavy Industrial sound they originally made their name on from 2003-2005, but the album is no less murderous. Across 8-tracks the duo have delivered a stripped back return to the raw sound of the ‘90s warehouse scene.

O'Connor channels 70s New York via Alan Vega through the haze of a King Tubby style echo chamber. These tunes are no less propulsive than anything on their classic run of 12"s, but rather than coming straight at your gut, they rain down a filthy ‘90s brand of funk from above. ‘You Said You Want To’ places O'Connor's urgent vocal cadence in a broken Dancehall zone. ‘Keep It Down’ sees the two chasing each other through a maze of ricocheting pinprick electronics. ‘It's In The Heart’ returns to familiar four on the floor territory, but with a cosmic trail left by the FX drenched vocals.

Active Agents and House-Boys sounds unlike anything these two have done together or across their own prolific careers, and is all the better for it."