anti! hysteria

ANTY!Rudeboy

Disdain Records
11th December, 2020
7
Certified Bangers

For 11 years, Anty Horgan was the synth-wielding, delay pedal-friendly, spliff-toting frontman of The Bennies. The band’s free-wheeling, genre-defiant approach lead to global stages and a cult following–it was nigh-on impossible to be unhappy at one of their shows whenever they rolled through town.

MORE: BRING ME THE HORIZON: The Tide Is Turning // KILLER BE KILLED: Reluctant Heroes // MR BUNGLE: Surprise! We’re Death! REVIEWS: MR BUNGLE: The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo // BRING ME THE HORIZON: POST HUMAN:SURVIVAL HORROR // ALPHA WOLF: a quiet place to die // JINJER: Alive In Melbourne // KILLER BE KILLED: Reluctant Hero

Horgan’s kept a solo project in his back pocket over the last few years, but it’s only now that The Bennies have been put on ice–oh, and that whole pandemic thing–that listeners are finally getting a proper taste of it.


Blackened hysteria


Horgan wants you to know exactly who’s in charge: That’s ANTY!, thanks very much; all caps and an exclamation mark at the end for good measure. The name has your attention–and, by extension, so does Rudeboy. With the context and framework of The Bennies absent, Horgan is once again working on a blank canvas. Is he gonna spill bong water all over it again? Yeah, but at least they make for pretty entertaining Rorschachs.

In a dark year, Rudeboy is a bright spark.

Horgan’s approach implements deep-cut crate-digging, pulling samples from a myriad of reggae and dancehall records to get chopped, screwed and rapped over. It’s time-honoured tradition within Jamaican music, and to their credit Horgan and his producer cohorts get the vibe just right without coming across as too appropriative. One Step Beyond (Two Back) pairs a mashed-up ska classic with Horgan’s inner frustrations, while the cop-taunting Officer offers a view of rainbow-tinged utopia with a smile and a swagger in its step.


inverted hysteria


Not every track lands with the same resonance–at a whopping 16 songs, it was always going to be a hit and miss affair. By the time closer Keep On rolls around, however, you’re so charmed that it’s easy to overlook any cons. In a dark year, Rudeboy is a bright spark.

STANDOUT TRACKS: One Step Beyond (Two Back), Keep On, Officer
STICK THIS NEXT TO:
The Specials, Toots and the Maytals, Lee “Scratch” Perry


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