Boys Noize are in fact one man, the Berlin-based 24-year-old Alex Ridha, and with his splendidly titled debut Oi Oi Oi, he’s certainly made a run for dance album of the year, that already have seen sterling efforts from LCD Soundsystem, Justice and a resurgent Chemical Brothers. Rightly cited as completely amazing by contemporaries such as Soulwax, Tiga, Erol Alkan and Tiefschwarz, you might have also heard his work on remixes for Bloc Party, Feist and Kaiser Chiefs.
Opener & Down sets out the Boys Noize ethos from the outset – pummelling electro and plaster-shifting bass, operating in a more punishing take on Daft Punk. The beauty of it all is that its all done on analogue – no digital, so the sound is filthy in its sharp shards of brutal noise. Stand outs on an album of stand outs include the sleazin’ throb of Oh!, the clattering car chase funk of Lava Lava, and the very dirty The Battery. It’s not for the fainthearted casual disco traveller, Oi Oi Oi leaps up and down on your brain like a pair of 20-holed techno Dr Martens, it’s for those about to rock. And then some. It’s heavy, it’s noisy, it’s the sound of computers going beserk – seriously, anyone with a vague interest in throwing shapes will love it.
Boys Noize will be performing at Club Capitol, Perth, on Friday 23rd November. ‘Oi Oi Oi’ is out now through Inertia. OUTinPerth has album giveaways, click here and then enter to win.
