British Murder Boys went out with a bang in 2012. Performing their “final show” to a rapt Tokyo audience eager for industrial thumps, ear-shredding guitar feedback, and a shamanistic performance by robe clad beguilers. And, whilst the duo of Surgeon (Anthony Childs) and Regis (Karl O’Connor) only managed to stay away for three years, it’s taken until now to raise their heads above the parapets and commit their bolshy electronic belligerence to a full-length release.
And the good news is that BMB still tear it up. These recordings hit like the gut-troubling, sub-bass fists of a sonic pugilist. The battery of drums that comprise ‘It’s What You Hide’ gyrate like a wheel coming off its axis and the rasp of blistered synthesis and chest-rattling bass beats on ‘It’s In The Heart’ are a joyous ode to military grade knob-twiddling.
Their palette has changed a little. ‘Killer I Said’ is a dubby affair that continues the conversation with Northampton’s Reducer. The viscous, gangster-limped cadence hauls itself into a space cleared by the snare’s reverberating “Kah” but it’s the hit of the low end that cements its place in your memory. High-pass filters are swung left and right, as if Surgeon has taken Sherwood’s mixing desk out onto the high seas.
Regis’ voice has altered as well. His murky rambling and rants of “This is the real world” during ‘This Is A Calling’ sound less like those early William Bennett-esque efforts and more akin to Genesis P-Orridge berating a Berlin dancefloor. There’s a lineage here of Throbbing Gristle, Whitehouse, and Basic Channel. But mostly of Coil. This might not seem so obvious for existing fans of their industrial dub techno assault but, musically, BMB expand on Coil’s elegant blend of sinister electronics, occult leanings, and dirt black sense of humour to include writhing beats, shrieked feedback, and submission to rhythm as their own form of ritual. The album title also recalls Sleazy’s post-Coil outfit – The Threshold Houseboys Choir – and BMB’s use of imagery purloined from Pasolini’s infamous anti-fascist work Salò mirrors Coil’s own interest in the murdered director.
In his exceptional work on the English esoteric underground, England’s Hidden Reverse, David Keenan wrote that “Noise and Industrial music function as the night time to pop music’s day… Crime calls for night; noise is no longer music as entertainment”.
According to the latest annual report from the Music Venue Trust, 13% of grassroots music venues either closed their doors or stopped hosting live music in 2023. The situation is no less dire for nightclubs. Between 2020–2023 nearly a third of all nightclubs shut down. The dwindling spaces for nocturnal activity should surely be a concern for an entire nation as a stark loss of culture, reduction of industry jobs, and lack of options for hedonism-seekers spells trouble three different ways.
Fortunately, Regis’ yelp, on penultimate track ‘We Will Show You’, threatens a schooling in nighttime activities. A crepuscular offering of greyscale fuckery that feels most intended for dancefloor demolition. It’s a musical call to arms for a country losing its nightlife. The boys are back. And they’re coming for your night.
