Having previously released the single ‘Cael Chdi Nol’ I was smitten with what I described as “a booming neo-glam romper stomper of a track”. Now we have ten more slabs of pop/rock granite to happily shove in our ears on BOI’s new album Coron O Chwinc. All this courtesy of Osian Gwynedd (keyboards), Rhodri Siôn (vocals), Ifan Emlyn (guitar), Dafydd Owen (drums) and Heledd Mair Watkins (bass). This Welsh 5-piece swoosh gracefully between bangers and ballads and can burst out of the gate like a thoroughbred on tracks like ‘Heidio Mae’r Locustiaid’ and ‘Cael Chdi Nol’ which stomp and bristle like a pit-bull straining against a chain. BOI can also caress our troubled souls on tracks like ‘Ynys Angel’ and ‘Tragwyddoldeb’; songs that could easily launch a thousand lighters into the air. And in the middle ground BOI can sashay like Ziggy or Iggy on tracks like ‘Rheswm Am Godwm’ and ‘Cwcw Cloc’ or add the menace of a reverberating trip through an underpass at night on ‘Twll Dan Staer’.
BOI take the swagger and elan of T-Rex and trade it up to a Spinosaurus. Big chords, big tunes and drums as solid as a Rhenium quarry. It’s like plugging yourself into an electricity substation and asking someone to put a hose on you. ‘Cael Chdi Nol’ still raises goosebumps and I am a sucker for all the instruments coming at me all at once like a sonic-tsunami, with vocals surfing the monster wave. This is my kind of BOI band; slap a t-shirt on me and serve me up a double-portion of BOI-live soon please!
Coron O Chwinc will be released out on Friday via the band’s Bandcamp page but those fine folks at Beast PR have given Joyzine listeners a chance to stream the album ahead of tomorrow’s release:
Follow BOI on Twitter
Review by Paul F Cook
Keep up to date with all new content on Joyzine via our
Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Mailing List