Ever since New Order and new wave emerged in the 80s, artists have been pushing the limits of dark dance music. The industrial synth beats of Boy Harsher are reminiscent of a period when simplified eight-counts and curt monotone prevailed, including dark flourishes of synth highs and machine-generated drum-fills to break up the drone.
After completing their debut EP, Lesser Man, on Soft Science Records, the duo made the move from Savannah, Georgia to Western Massachusetts—the cold climate of their new abode perhaps more fitting to their music. Jae Matthews’ hauntingly nervous vocals instill doom and doubt into steadiness of Augusts Muller’s rhythmic synths, creating an environment of uncertain movement. The wounded, but confident chanting of, “I love pain,” on the fittingly-titled “Pain” is representative of the project’s central contrast of unstable melodies built atop concrete beats.
Lesser Man is set for an April reissue on Night People, right around the end of an extensive US tour. You can stream “Pain” below, and scroll down for a full list of upcoming tour dates.
Boy Harsher tour dates:
March
04 Richmond
05 Boone
06 Asheville
07 Savannah
08 Jacksonville
09 Gainesville
10 St. Augustine
11 Atlanta
12 Macon
13 Athens
14 Nashville
15 Memphis
16 Little Rock
17 Shreveport
18 New Orleans
19 Houston
20 Austin
21 Austin
22 Denton
23 Wichita
24 Kansas City
25 St. Louis
26 Iowa City
27 Chicago
28 Minneapolis
29 Milwaukee
30 Detroit
31 Cleveland
April
01 Buffalo
02 Rochester
03 Utica
04 NYC
