Banging out damn fine funky alternatives, if not exactly prolifically, certainly regularly for nearly a decade, Belfast’s Black Bones now release their debut, eponymous – mini – LP. Having worked in the past with respected labels such as Duca Bianco, Hoga Nord, Mystic Arts, Optimo and Touch Sensitive, the duo are doing this one themselves. I’ll show off a bit and let you know that I’ve been privy to 10 new tracks, 6 of which have been pressed to a 12” vinyl sampler.* 

 Zanzibar starts this dance, with muted bleeps and thumping mid-tempo beats. Their marching appearing out of a frequency fog. A propulsive bass pulse powers the piece, whose chopped up cowbell and chants come across like On-U meeting Munich’s Afro-Cosmic The New Morning. 

Take It Personal is dub techno crafted from an organic skank. Looped, filtered, dubwise deconstructed into something head nodding, hypnotic and smashed by soundsystem soundclash sirens. 

Warped recalls William Bennett’s Cut Hands. All metallic, rattling, tribal, stainless steel timpani, while also sneaking in a sly nod and wink to Fini Tribe’s Balearic classic, De Testimony. The bells. The bells. 

Voodoo is another, more playful, percussive workout. The programming in this case creating a percolating dancehall / bogle rhythm. High hats adding urgency, snares sharp, military, and spiralling sound effects, plus cascades of machined hand claps, filling the spaces in between. 

Sinister and Psychic Warriors Ov Gaia-esque, Persuasion shudders and judders like a shaken cage. Industrial-influenced techno / trance, searching for Exit 23, it’s softened slightly by epic, cinematic strings. 

All the grooves are hard and heavy, but closer King Of The South is moody, mechanical, stripped back, and minimal. Its moniker a reference to the bursts of down and dirty rap that break the darkness up.

Black Bones’ Blackbones can be checked and ordered at Phonica and Juno. 

*The remaining tracks are coming on a 10” – for the dance floor – and a slo-mo 7.