Album Review

Boys Noize "Oi Oi Oi" Boys Noize (2007)

Review by Solange Deschatres

Berlin-based Boys Noize’s first self-produced album, “Oi Oi Oi”, proves that robots have feelings too. Alex Ridha, "the man behind the motherboard," intuitively combines the organic nature of the humanoid with electronics, channeling emotions through a digital interface. The album contains the sorrowful, dark electro single, “Don’t Believe the Hype,” in addition to 13 other tracks that range from steady electro grooves to body-breaking electro-tech.
Folk rock artist, Feist, gets a cyborgian makeover with a remix of, “My Moon, My Man,” a gritty, liquid thumper meant to metallicize the spine of every fem-folk lover who gets lost at night in the club districts this summer.
Like humans, robots aren’t perfect. The messy and chaotic track, “Superfresh” throws in everything but the kitchen sink like a dishwasher gone haywire, and the lackadaisical “Let’s Buy Happiness” takes on a journey as boring as mowing the lawn on a Sunday morning, complete with distorted robot humming. These tracks, thankfully, are saved by the superhuman strength of more pumped-up ones like, “Deny Selected,” with its heavy-flowing bass, and the electro epic, “Shine Shine,” which engages a cacophony of synth horns. Counterintuitively, this work reminds the mechanical workings of the body what it’s like to be human. Grab this album and some motor oil and prepare to be transformed.