Single Review: Monoxide Brothers - ‘Horses’
Increasingly familiar to the Birmingham alternative music scene, Monoxide Brothers is the electro-punk project of Emily Doyle (she/her), on synths and beats, and Sophie Hack (she/her), on vocals and synths; meeting at a séance in the attic of a real ale pub and forming in May 2024, their sustained presence on the circuit around the West Midlands – Supernormal and Psychic DanceHall Festival, to name a couple – has contributed to the city’s ever-rewarding coterie of experimental DIY acts, from Digbeth’s red brick lots and studios through the satellite clusters of Kings Heath, Moseley, and more. From their debut single “Spine,” praised by Radio 6 Music DJ Deb Grant who, following her exposure to the track’s punk-poetic free-verse and squelchy synths, went on to play it on her show, through to their recent release “Horses,” Monoxide Brothers’ nascent discography which combines danceable angular synths with socially conscious critique, is steadily expanding; their identity and thrust, clear.
Propelled by a plodding kick drum and looping, noisy synths, “Horses” is a fantastic, danceable, deceptively simple track which recalls artists like Add N to (X), Sleaford Mods, and some of Le Tigre’s later tracks. Sophie’s sarcasm and stream-of-consciousness wit is on full display here, as she wryly impersonates the various (see: male) gatekeepers and gaslighters that one often unfortunately observes lingering at gigs, leering at those deemed impious and testing their musical faith through half-baked snarky questions like some unimpressive, pasty inquisitor; it’s this superiority complex that Sophie marvellously mocks in an early line: “Well name three songs then (well go on) | name three songs off their B-side album,” and later, “well if you’re that much of a fan, I’ve never seen you round here, I’ve never seen you in the crowd.”
This caricature continues and a whole cast of unsavoury characters emerges, as innocuous comments give way to something more sinister: the track blisters on as Sophie’s sly humour and punky caustic wit gives way to a more assertive, indignant, voice as she imitates the stock excuses for harassment so frequently parroted by the ignorant, pushing them to their absurd conclusions: “Well maybe you shouldn’t have worn that / maybe you shouldn’t have said that / maybe you shouldn’t have walked that way / walked home / walked alone / walked anywhere.” Emily’s voice joins in harmony as their staccato directives charge: “Gaslight | No Girl | Gaslight | Crush the girl”. The track is most effective at this juncture, where their take-down of the unimaginative arrogance and snark that define certain circles of music fans is exposed as thinly-veiled and crass misogynism.
Accompanying this charged addition to Monoxide Brothers’ promising discography is a simple and effective music video. Directed by Emily and, in her own words, “inspired by shows like Angela Anaconda and the old Steve Madden big head adverts,” this animated collage sources a miscellany of images from the Public Domain Review, a wellspring of obscure cultural fragments and publicly available material from across the decades, freely available for the bucking DIY self-starter.
Consisting in an animated loop, and starting with the jittering trot of a horse journeying against a backdrop of graffitied walls, following which the eponymous Brothers emerge: enlarged eyes darting in sync to the beat as ransom-note phrases from Sophie’s lyrics dart across the screen. This sequence repeats: horse, brothers, horse, brothers, greater, more varied paraphernalia: elephant, vintage bicycles, fantastical imaginary beasts, and on. It’s a straightforward, humorous, video combining kitsch eclecticism and joyfulness with an uncanny creepiness: its identity, clear, and it fits the angular track perfectly.
Horses was recorded with the help of B.B. Kaizo in the band’s Digbeth studio, and mixed/mastered by House Cloud. The single is self-released by Monoxide Brothers and available to stream and purchase on Bandcamp.
Find Monoxide Brothers on: Instagram | Bandcamp | Youtube
Listen to ‘Horses’ here:
Propelled by a plodding kick drum and looping, noisy synths, “Horses” is a fantastic, danceable, deceptively simple track which recalls artists like Add N to (X), Sleaford Mods, and some of Le Tigre’s later tracks. Sophie’s sarcasm and stream-of-consciousness wit is on full display here, as she wryly impersonates the various (see: male) gatekeepers and gaslighters that one often unfortunately observes lingering at gigs, leering at those deemed impious and testing their musical faith through half-baked snarky questions like some unimpressive, pasty inquisitor; it’s this superiority complex that Sophie marvellously mocks in an early line: “Well name three songs then (well go on) | name three songs off their B-side album,” and later, “well if you’re that much of a fan, I’ve never seen you round here, I’ve never seen you in the crowd.”
This caricature continues and a whole cast of unsavoury characters emerges, as innocuous comments give way to something more sinister: the track blisters on as Sophie’s sly humour and punky caustic wit gives way to a more assertive, indignant, voice as she imitates the stock excuses for harassment so frequently parroted by the ignorant, pushing them to their absurd conclusions: “Well maybe you shouldn’t have worn that / maybe you shouldn’t have said that / maybe you shouldn’t have walked that way / walked home / walked alone / walked anywhere.” Emily’s voice joins in harmony as their staccato directives charge: “Gaslight | No Girl | Gaslight | Crush the girl”. The track is most effective at this juncture, where their take-down of the unimaginative arrogance and snark that define certain circles of music fans is exposed as thinly-veiled and crass misogynism.
Accompanying this charged addition to Monoxide Brothers’ promising discography is a simple and effective music video. Directed by Emily and, in her own words, “inspired by shows like Angela Anaconda and the old Steve Madden big head adverts,” this animated collage sources a miscellany of images from the Public Domain Review, a wellspring of obscure cultural fragments and publicly available material from across the decades, freely available for the bucking DIY self-starter.
Consisting in an animated loop, and starting with the jittering trot of a horse journeying against a backdrop of graffitied walls, following which the eponymous Brothers emerge: enlarged eyes darting in sync to the beat as ransom-note phrases from Sophie’s lyrics dart across the screen. This sequence repeats: horse, brothers, horse, brothers, greater, more varied paraphernalia: elephant, vintage bicycles, fantastical imaginary beasts, and on. It’s a straightforward, humorous, video combining kitsch eclecticism and joyfulness with an uncanny creepiness: its identity, clear, and it fits the angular track perfectly.
Horses was recorded with the help of B.B. Kaizo in the band’s Digbeth studio, and mixed/mastered by House Cloud. The single is self-released by Monoxide Brothers and available to stream and purchase on Bandcamp.
Find Monoxide Brothers on: Instagram | Bandcamp | Youtube
Listen to ‘Horses’ here: