Warm Boys Warm Boys

In noise music, the line separating great from dogshit is often tantalisingly blurred. Within certain theorems, the best tend never to outstay their welcome. Recorded with John Hannon of Liberez in his rural Essex studio, it’s reasonable to assume that Warm Boys’ self-titled debut would be well managed. But here we have a rarity: a competent set of recordings that, like the last guests in the pub two minutes after closing time, are just barely starting to push their luck.

But following the evolution of this duo’s synth-noise is frequently delightful. ‘False Dmitry’ and ‘Beat Me Up’ are both lovingly carried from liquid to solid over their forgiving durations. Chief among the album’s standouts is a cover of Roxy Music’s ‘In Every Dream Home A Heartache’, which injects boneheaded belligerence to Bryan Ferry’s lyrical venom. ‘Laura Dern Sex Dream’, a title seemingly coined by an especially juvenile 15-year old, oddly finds the album at its most wistful; a 9-minute simmer overseen by a vapour thin Angelo Badalamenti sax swoon. But despite sounding like Laurie Speigel toying with Fuck Buttons’ gear, the trial of 30-minute closer ‘Matthew Hopkins Knew Christians Could Float’, which almost swallows Warm Boys in its entirety, would be best ejected from the premises.