- Something tells me that even if UK duo Guy Noir haven't listened much to Garrison Keillor's live radio show, A Prairie Home Companion, they’re still down with the premise. On the show Keillor plays a cast of recurring characters, including a man named Guy Noir who, as the joke goes, is a downtrodden detective relegated to the most mundane of cases (Missing baseballs, poodles, Minnesotans, etc.)
Guy Noir the techno version pokes fun just as readily as Keillor. Just take a look at the cover to the duo's debut 12-inch, which is two pairs of arms, veins popping, flexing as hard as they can. The music pokes fun, too. 'Flex' is punishing tech house, augmented by occasional snare-led breakdowns and frequent invocations to engage in the titular activity. Needless to say, it's brilliant as both a humorous send-up (That garbled voice! Those microscopic shards of digital detritus!) and amped-up groove.
'Buddy Poeto' shows off less and swings more. The track is less cluttered, giving the chance for elements to pop in and out, building to a small climax at about four minutes in. For the most part, though, 'Buddy Poeto' is aimless, more content to marinate in its sounds than to force anything (The ease with which it does this makes it all the more charming.)
'Now You're Gone' is the closest that the duo actually gets to noir territory. It's also the best track here. Dark and groovy, it's a robo-tech-house love song and, crucially, a believable one. (Maybe it's just me, but as the voice intones the title over and over near the end of the track, does the voice crack? Just a little bit? Hey, dime-store detectives and robots have hearts, too.) Suitable for crying over lost love and dancing the tears away. What could be better?
TracklistA Flex
B1 Buddy Poeto
B2 Now You're Gone