Published by Davide Pappalardo on August 24, 2018
Broken English Club is the industrial/techno project of London based dj Oliver Ho, founder of the labels Meta and Death & Leisure, explorer of different kinds of techno, be it acid, experimental, or house-tinged. Under this moniker he indulges in gritty industrial sounds and acid atmospheres, going well beyond pure dancefloor-minded entertainment and touching EBM, post-punk and tribal rhythms. Works like Suburban Hunting (Cititrax, 2015), Myths Of Steel And Concrete (Death & Leisure, 2016) and The English Beach (L.I.E.S, 2017) showed to the world a sound made of industrial music roots, distorted soundscapes, obsessive rhythms, even downtuned guitars, in line with the vision of important English techno acts like Regis and Surgeon: the communion between the rebellious nature of underground techno, industrial music and post-punk culture. Detachment from society, the use of technology to make music for a modern world, the reprise of motifs and atavistic suggestions from the past. Rhythm as a sonic diary, a part of our collective DNA, which can awake something in us, and at the same time a view of the present and the grim future.
Now the project returns with the first part of a trilogy of albums called White Rats, published for the Ron Morelli‘s imprint L.I.E.S, dedicated to “(the) collection of caustic and absurd portraits of the human animal” – an ambitious series of works starting with the first part reviewed by us now. A 9-track album in which you will find post-modern music rooted in dissonance, Ballard’s scenarios, caustic guitar sounds, fuzzy ambient passages and old-school electronics, references to serial killers, and an alienating atmosphere encapsulating the spirit of names like Throbbing Gristle, early Coil and Monte Cazazza.
Joy scar opens the work with its downtuned guitar loop violated by sparse rhythms and evocative chords, recalling 70’s electronic music. It works as an intro for the title track, an almost ritualistic affair with buzzing soundscapes and obsessive filtered vocals, soon accompanied by post-punk guitar-sounds and shrilling lines. An abrasive mantra is developed thanks to droning sequences and harsh atmospheres. Funny games plays with militant EBM rhythms and rigid snare drums, adding during its crescendo spooky synths in another sonic obsession made of repetitions.
On Anonymous death tape Ho goes full minimal via monotonous vocals and heavy rhythms underlined by industrial effects, giving us a sort of speech about psychological traits, which is totally disturbing in its impassiveness, a tendency found in the next track Animal town too, but as a chord-based old-school sci-fi score upon which disquieting words are layered. Let’s play uses acid techno elements in order to give us more of a club oriented track than another experimental pastiche. Granted, we are talking about a dark club with sweaty dancefloors and leather-bound partygoers,.
God man dog dwells in even more techno-friendly territories with its steady snares and pounding arp sequences, reaching a climax made of stomping rhythms and subtle bass-lines. We are ready for the last part of the album now: Tarmac paradise plays with a monologue about the serial killer Dennis Nilsen, focusing on shrilling industrial ambiances with factory-like soundscapes and grim atmospheres, giving us a cinematic mantra collapsing into dissonance, while Stab boy is a short pastiche with robotic slow beats, Middle-Eastern melodies and malicious filtered vocals recalling Absolute Body Control.
Proper industrial music seems to be having a second chance at life thanks to the rediscovery of its roots and motifs from the techno world, and we have probably a shining example of this fact here. The more experimental and acid aspects of techno are mixed with grim post-punk atmospheres and caustic industrial soundscapes, and even the willingness of the genre to challenge social rules and touch morbid subjects is present in this work. Oliver Ho is way more than a “music tourist” using industrial just as a fashion: he understands the nature of the genre and its ambivalent nature, focusing on both the seriousness and the sick humor of the genre never restraining himself too much, or taking things too far. Techno industrial as a sonic and cultural template for the recurring English tradition of counterculture made music, a template moving amidst different but linked genres like post-punk, industrial, and experimental electronics. A marvelous work, letting us wait for more to come.
Label: L.I.E.S
Rating: 8,5