The historic town of Wigan, England, has given the world the World Pie Eating Championship and the Wigan kebab. It has also given us Boss Keloid, the eclectic quartet that roared onto the scene with a smoked-out Angular Beef Lesson in 2010. Having emerged from the stoner scene, the now borderline jam band from Greater Manchester has since cooked up a sound entirely its own. Much like Primus, Boss Keloid occupies a peculiar niche where conventional genre tags fail. Melted on the Inch (2018) and Family the Smiling Thrush (2021) certainly made believers out of me and the now-retired Huck n’ Roll, with both records earning glowing praise. In fact, I’d place Family firmly among my favorite records of the past decade. I’ve still not heard anything quite like it, which meant the hype was real for Float & Aperture, their sixth full-length record. What strange new concoction would these quirky Brits cook up this time?
Float & Aperture finds Boss Keloid softening their edges and broadening their palette without sacrificing the eccentricity that has always defined them. A more subdued affair than Melted and Family, but also a more nuanced and mature one, Float & Aperture retains the straight-up heavy rock underbelly of its predecessors while incorporating more hints of blues, funk, and psychedelic classic rock. “Breeze,” “Weight,” and “Pedestal” recall the bluegrass rock stylings of Big Wreck, while instances of Faith No More’s expressive dynamics (“Sanguine,” “Pedestal”), Tool’s shifting bass movements and a quick burst of Pinback’s indie rock (“Accord”) make their presence known in surprising ways. Paul Swarbrick’s quirky, wandering lead guitar lines remain the emulsifier of the group’s songwriting, snaking through every track as they twist, turn, and swirl around the metallic distortion, meaty bass and vibrant drums. Their presence makes Float & Aperture instantly recognizable as Boss Keloid, as does Alex Hurst’s powerful vibrato, which operates much the same way, splashing color, personality, and bombast across the album.
Boss Keloid continue to thrive on controlled chaos, piling seemingly incompatible ingredients and influences atop one another while somehow making every divergent piece lock into place. The opening three tracks are absurdly infectious, slowly digging their hooks in deeper with every listen. Bluesy guitar licks twang and wander over funky ghost notes (“Breeze”), psychedelic leads curl around filthy, flanged-out bass lines (“Landslide”) and lurching rhythms suddenly settle into irresistible grooves. “Pedestal” even finds room for Faith No More-esque falsetto theatrics, while “Accord” bakes psychedelic guitar melodies into intricate, Tool’ish bass work before exploding into a raucous rock climax. The individual instruments often seem to be pulling in entirely different directions, yet somehow Boss Keloid make these competing ideas coalesce into a seamless whole, a feat few bands can pull off with the same precision and aplomb.
My gripes with Float & Aperture are few and mostly confined to the record’s production. The rhythm guitar sits inconsistently in the mix, at times feeling too subdued or buried beneath Swarbrick’s leads while sounding appropriately prominent elsewhere. As a result, some of the crescendoing choruses or dynamic bridges don’t hit with quite the force they should. This imbalance is particularly noticeable on “Accord” and “Sanguine,” where the plucky leads compete with the heavy riffing underneath rather than allowing it to fully land. Though the production as a whole may lack the punch and tightness of Family, its organic, almost live quality still sounds good, complementing Boss Keloid’s adventurous spirit. The quartet’s tendency to simply jam out can also wander a bit too far, with “Weight” boasting a midsection that contains some terrific grooves but takes too long to find its way back.
Always looking forward and never back, Boss Keloid remain in a state of constant evolution, treating rock and metal as a playground where incompatible sounds, textures and ideas are free to wander and coexist. Float & Aperture is the next step in that evolution, pushing Boss Keloid deeper into the unique niche they’ve carved out over the years. Its many nuances take time to fully sink in, and although the record delivers much of its strongest material early and its production occasionally mutes some of its power, Float & Aperture is still a damn good record, albeit one that doesn’t quite reach the heights of Melted and Family. Nevertheless, it proves that Boss Keloid are still operating at the height of their craft and continuing to hone it with each release.
Rating: Very Good
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Church Road Records
Websites: bosskeloid.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/bosskeloidband
Releases Worldwide: October 23rd, 2026
The post Boss Keloid – Float & Aperture Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.
