Powerplant

Reviews

Powerplant Crashing Cars / Never Smile 7″

New single from the prolific London-based POWERPLANT. With a slew of singles, EPs, and a couple LPs since 2018, this band has been busy. Formerly a solo project of Ukrainian Theo Zhykharyev, POWERPLANT is now a fully-membered band with Theo on guitar and vocals, supported by bass, drum, and synth (didn’t see any credits on this particular release to name them, however). Check out the band’s KEXP performance from September 2024, it feels like everyone is absolutely red-lining—the drummer is in a full sweat on the first song, the bassist is ping-ponging up and down the fretboard, the synth player is operating more keys, buttons, switches, and knobs than two hands allow, and Theo sells it hard into the mic, screaming, crooning, death-hollowing, and beating his guitar lifeless. If listening back to that performance and previous recordings in juxtaposition to “Crashing Cars”/”Never Smile” taught me anything, it is that this group plays a wide range of sounds, from moody dungeon synth, to black metal, to synth-driven post punk, to spurts of hardcore, often all in one song. On display here is something a little more catchy and driving. “Crashing Cars” has Zhykharyev crooning in a way that reminds me of FRANZ FERDINAND or the STROKES—the kind of alt/indie rock that was hard to avoid growing up—but I mean this in a positive way, if you can believe me! The even, smooth vocals sound really great in contrast to the jittery band, and makes for a perfectly tragic love song. “Never Smile” offers even deeper, richer vocals, maybe more like the haunting qualities of NICK CAVE, but still has a fast, driving beat, synth pushed way to the front of the mix. I admit that this is my introduction to POWERPLANT, but better late than never, as this group fucking rips.

Powerplant Grass EP

Dark, melodic post-punk out of London. Has a similar feel to the dozens of other drum-machine-laden bands that are everywhere these days, but POWERPLANT comes off more nuanced than their electronic peers. Less DEVO, and more SMITHS meets ALIEN SEX FIEND. I might catch some flak for this, but they also remind me of a rustic THOMAS DOLBY. That’s supposed to be a compliment, but I understand if it’s not taken as such! I need to give POWERPLANT their due for using sleigh bells throughout “Walk Around (Hang My Head).” You don’t hear enough of those in punk these days. No fooling!

Powerplant People in the Sun LP

UK-based one-man operation POWERPLANT turned a lot of heads in 2019 when his second album People in the Sun was released, and there is a good reason for this. Hard to describe but easy to listen to, this is lo-fi synth-punk in its essence but every tune is a whole new world in itself. “Hey Mr Dogman!” is one hell of an opener, showcasing POWERPLANT’s high-energy garage-punk-meets-SCREAMERS sound, and right next, “Snake Eyes” shifts the game completely in a DEVO-esque weird artsy vibe. There is so much to explore here and every listen will make you piece this puzzle even better. This might be the definition of what egg-punk really is.

Powerplant A Spine / Evidence EP

Demento synth noise from the creepy depths of a dank basement. The first song has an art-prog vibe, PUNISHMENT OF LUXURY meets DEVO with a BRYAN FERRY on ’ludes drawl. The remaining tracks are more direct in their delivery: post-punk but skewed and warped like a carnival mirror. The closing track, “Hurtwood,” sounds like the MISFITS channeling MAGAZINE—now that’s magic, folks!