Audiopile Review: We’ve been bumping a lot of Sandwell District recently, and we cannot get enough of that dark, minimal techno sound. Luckily, Sandwell founder Karl ‘Regis’ O’Connor has us covered with the new album from British Murder Boys, ‘Active Agents and House Boys’. BMB is a collaboration between Regis and Anthony ‘Surgeon’ Child, so you know you’re in for some seriously industrial-strength techno punishment. But there’s more to this album than that. Specifically: vocals. O’Connor is clearly channeling Suicide’s Alan Vega here. It’s a tribute occasionally verging on pastiche, but we’re not complaining because damn does it ever work in context. Fed through chains of echo and feedback, Regis’s voice places a vulnerable (albeit it pretty badass) human element in the path of the juddering techno assault’s relentless advance. Like we said, we’ve been craving this kind of thing, and what Regis and Surgeon have delivered here is almost superfluously powerful.

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debut full length album finds Child and O’Connor take somewhat of a departure from the heavy Industrial sound they originally made their name on from 2003-2005, but the album is no less murderous.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.