Review - Boys Noize - Out Of The Black

This is what we want, and this is what we’ll get! While still keeping their signature distorted, high energy sound, Boys Noize has ventured into a new genre of alternative electronic beats and vintage synth in their new album, ‘Out of the Black’.

The album isn’t really a reemergence album so much as a “I never left” album. Under the pseudonym Boys Noize, German DJ Alexander Ridha has released twelve new songs that are going to have many Boys Noize fans blasting the album out of their headphones, but it’s also going to have a couple fans looking at their computer screen thinking:

“What the Hell? This isn’t Lava Lava.”

And they’re right, it’s not.

‘Out of the Black’ is totally different, and Boys Noize couldn’t have gone in a better direction. The first track “What You Want” is a great introduction to album. With a heavy vocoder luring you into the disco drop of the first half of the song, you just can’t stop tapping the back end of your boot while thinking “Yeah, I like it. I like it a lot.”

The whole album, like Ridha’s previous album ‘OI Oi Oi’, has a constant theme throughout every track. Direct influence from artists such as Kraftwerk and Depeche Mode are impossible to miss while listening to the second track on the album, “XTC.” The jumpy 80’s freestyle drums make driving in the car and rocking your head back and forth inevitable. “XTC” pays profound homage to Kraftwerk’s hit “Die Roboter” throughout the entire song, which taps into a whole new audience of old-school electronic lovers. You might even sense a little bit of Crystal Method with “Rocky 2.”

Along with more electronic fans, their collaboration with Snoop Dogg in “Got It” is sure to step into the Hip-hop/Rap scene. The middle of the album takes a break from the steady 4/4 styling and heads into experimental electronica with “Circus Full of Clowns” featuring underground rapper GIZZLE. Ridha made one other excellent choice deciding to team up with fan favorite indie-electronic DJ Siriusmo for “Conchord,” a heavily synth’d-out track that ventures into the indie dance genre.

Overall, the album is solid. It’s got a little 80’s mixed with a little saw synth mixed with some seriously catchy vocoding. The album takes everything electronic has to offer and throws it into one huge collaboration of sound.

‘Out of the Black’ is definitely worth grabbing. It’s different, it’s a nice break from the electro-pop scene, and it’s got a great energy to it. Props, Boys Noize!

Listen to: the whole album. If not, try “XTC” and “Conchord” to get a feel for the breadth of the album.

- Michael Feloni

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