Like cassette mixtapes, Maxell t-shirts and Thatcherism, The Silent Boys are on a mission to keep the spirit of the 1980’s alive. Not in the same way most bands currently are though; theirs is a manifesto less concerned with Pac Man t-shirts, mullets and Glo-sticks. For with every twist and turn of their lo-fi indie pop jerks a nod to the C86 spirit. Themselves huge fans of the latter and also labels such as Postcard and Factory, you get the sense they’d probably be releasing on these were it not for the labels’ distressing demise. From the likes of ‘Tin Heart’ and ‘Love Struck’, they’ve managed to channel the spirit (or crib wholesale, depending on which side of the bed you fell from) The Cure’s trademark acoustic twang, and layered it over mildly catchy alt. folk Americana. In keeping with such ideals, they’ve noticeably given less time to production duties, but with ‘Love Will Keep Us Together’ sounding peculiarly similar to that Joy Division number and the gloomy, jangle-pop of ‘St Paul’s Letter’s’ shows The Silent Boys are worthy of your time. They were sadly a little late to make the C86 cut, but had they been on time…
