From London
Recommend if you like Devo, Home Front, Sn\u00f5\u00f5per
Up next New album Bridge of Sacrifice released 13 March<\/p>\n
Theo Zhykharyev is one of those brilliant weirdos capable of turning wild ideas into reality. Since starting Powerplant as a bedroom recording project in 2017, a couple of years after he left Ukraine to study in London, he has released records built around fizzing electro-punk, dungeon synth<\/a> and treble-heavy hardcore, concocting Dungeons & Dragons-inspired role-playing adventures to accompany some of them, while slinging visually arresting DIY merch through his Arcane Dynamics<\/a> label. Yet even coming amid an output this freewheeling, his upcoming new record is full of surprises.<\/p>\n Bridge of Sacrifice is a pivot into black metal, with Zhykharyev\u2019s antic synth melodies and slashing garage-rock guitars now accompanied by eerie screams and drum-machine blastbeats tinny enough to evoke the frost-bitten demos that emerged from Norway in the early 90s. It\u2019s a head-spinning mix carried off with the gleeful energy of a fan indulging their passions \u2013 in the video for the title track<\/a>, a trenchcoat-sporting Zhykharyev plays a Flying V in a creepy cellar, while Hall of Wolves\u2019 squalling riff sounds comically evil \u2013 until the song breaks into a wonderfully camp, Cramps-worthy chorus.<\/p>\n In these perma-anxious times, when hope is pretty much limited to placing one\u2019s faith in the least-worst outcome, Zhykharyev\u2019s desire to prioritise fun, earnestness and escapism in his fabulously odd music feels like sweet relief. He knows the stakes better than many \u2013 Beautiful Boy<\/a>, a ripping punk song from 2023\u2019s Grass EP, lamented everything that\u2019s been lost since Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. This is how he\u2019s fighting back. Huw Baines<\/p>\n This week\u2019s best new tracksDo the math \u2026 Love Rarely. Photograph: Alex Dixon<\/p>\n Love Rarely \u2013 Will \u200bFakemink \u2013 Young Millionaire Tama Gucci \u2013 Xexe Chris Forsyth\u2019s What Is Now \u2013 Both\/And Sluice \u2013 Beadie Thundercat \u2013 I Did This to Myself (ft Lil Yachty) Brown Horse \u2013 Twisters Subscribe to the Guardian\u2019s rolling Add to Playlist selections on Spotify \u2013 or transfer it to Apple<\/a>, Tidal<\/a> or other services<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From LondonRecommend if you like Devo, Home Front, Sn\u00f5\u00f5perUp next New album Bridge of Sacrifice released 13 March…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259486,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[156,157,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-259485","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-music","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259485\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Has math rock ever been this joyful and fun? The Leeds band\u2019s time signatures certainly jump like startled cats, but are paired with super-poppy emo-tinged songcraft and Courtney Levitt\u2019s scream-sung vocals. BBT<\/p>\n
The most-tipped MC from the UK underground alongside EsDeeKid<\/a>, Fakemink swaggers at pace through goth guitars and a syncopated beat, with an easy mastery to his flow. BBT<\/p>\n
\u201cI can make it clean or make it dirty,\u201d the NYC musician croons over blown-out bass and industrial grime that heavily suggest the latter \u2013 but his fantasy takes a surprisingly tender turn. LS<\/p>\n
The Philadelphia guitarist swaps his usual Television-indebted questing riffage for 25 minutes of tingly, exploratory improv alongside double bassist John Moran and drummer Joey Sullivan: imagine a scruffier Necks. (Available only on Bandcamp<\/a>.) LS<\/p>\n
Justin Morris idealises The Wire\u2019s \u201cMcNulty and Beadie\u201d and \u201cJoe Pera and Sarah\u201d of Joe Pera Talks With You on this wistful slowcore contemplation of what it means to stop running and build a life. LS<\/p>\n
Underpinned by the type of ultra-dexterous jazz-funk bassline to knock pork pie hats off heads at a hundred paces, this is a grin-inducing return for Thundercat, singing of his hopelessness with someone out of his league. BBT<\/p>\n
You\u2019d guess that this lot come from Tulsa, Oklahoma, rather than their actual home of Norwich: Twisters is a fantastic bit of country-rock in the vein of Neil Young or Kurt Vile, with gorgeous, circuitous electric guitar. BBT<\/p>\n