{"title":"Powerplant","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"grass-2","title":"Grass","description":"\u003cp\u003eAfter last year’s Stump Soup cassette, Powerplant is back with a sharp five tracker. On every release Powerplant mutates, changes and rotates their sound and on this EP it’s no different. The rigid march of drum machines is now more determined and powerful than ever. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eGrass\u003c\/i\u003e serves as their fatalist manifesto against burning daylight spending time fruitlessly. Like an intrusive thought or a ghost, the theme of time passing, barges into every song, calling to action. Powerplant, like a converted believer, is here to guide you through. “It gets worse before it gets worse”, says bandleader Theo Zhykharyev, “I waited forever for things to get better and a perfect time to put out these songs, but judging from the trajectory of events - this is as good as it’s going to get.” With the same necessity to get out and make up for lost time, the EP opens its gates with title track “Grass” - a force of nature that charges into a dizzying riff, bridging into a crooning verse with a pompous backing. Powerplant’s catchy sensibilities and affection for intricate song structures is at the forefront with a hint of weirdness that is yet to come. \"Broodmother\" is like the march of an evil and twisted army with military drums, distorted bass hook and sinister vocals. \"Walk Around - Hang My Head\" comes over like a mid 80’s 4 track Stranglers demo with a vocal that chops and snarls with an odd twang to it. \"3 Medallions\" is a brief instrumental interlude that leads into final cut \"Beautiful Boy\" which is the most straightforward song - but isn’t straight forward at all. It starts like it’s going to be an 80’s synth pop gem but ends up like a ghostly version of early Wire or art punks that make every second count with some different happening, knowing that this might be their only ever release. Luckily, for us that isn’t the case for Powerplant.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Static Shock","offers":[{"title":"7\"","offer_id":50432147947851,"sku":"2029052","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Powerplant-_Grass_SSR108_cc004977_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726864371"},{"product_id":"position-displacement","title":"Position (Displacement)","description":"\u003cp\u003eFraxinus emerges from temporary suspension with a monolithic 6-track offering on his new self-release label Power Plant. This is his debut EP \u003ci\u003ePosition (Displacement)\u003c\/i\u003e, carved from a solid block of Devonian granite. After a 4-year dormancy, the Amsterdam-based artist returns with a 30 minute transmission of earth-shaking kick drums, thunderous percussion and razor-sharp sound design. The label’s inaugural release simultaneously marks the first proper outing for the artist, following a run of compilation features \u0026amp; special edition vinyl excursions dating back to 2014. \u003ci\u003ePosition (Displacement)\u003c\/i\u003e is a journey of divergent moods \u0026amp; cadences, from the wistful flutes of opener Overland to final track Laced’s uncompromising arpeggios. Billowing melodies \u0026amp; piercing stabs run in tandem with a pummeling \u0026amp; steppy rhythm section; Source Code builds steadily, paving the way for Pass One’s warehouse-ready assault. The blooming, fluorescent synths of 115 (Kondo) - named for the mythical Amsterdam club - create a mid-way moment of euphoria, before Larch marches on with its clattering drums. The tracks clearly contain DNA from Fraxinus' foundations with the Her Records cohort – lean, direct \u0026amp; forward-thinking. This time around the aesthetic is more focused, transferred to techno schematics but veering away from 4\/4 fare. The sonics have been compacted into dense slabs of energy, primed for soundsystem dispatch.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Powerplant","offers":[{"title":"Black | 12\"","offer_id":50441195454795,"sku":"1135254","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/5ab45470-b457-44c2-94bd-5f5b5b77204e_thumbnail_4096.png?v=1726974723"},{"product_id":"powerplant-green","title":"Powerplant Green","description":"\u003cp\u003eHot on the heels of his \u003ci\u003ePosition [Displacement] \u003c\/i\u003eEP, Fraxinus follows up with 4 warehouse-ready cuts on \u003ci\u003ePowerplant Green \u003c\/i\u003e— kicking off a new series of colour-coded white label 12”s for his label Powerplant. Further stripped back and even more dancefloor-focused, this series sees the artist developing his knack for propulsive, colossal kick drums. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLess of a journey than the label’s first release, Powerplant Green sheds all semblance of emotion. Straight from the first beat, \u003ci\u003eDisruptor\u003c\/i\u003e’s rasping acid twinge doesn’t let up, even amid clattering percussion folding in on itself. \u003ci\u003eTorsion\u003c\/i\u003e features a rolling, swung-out rhythm; slow and stepping, but with enough groove for the dance. On the flip, an intense barrage of drums drives \u003ci\u003eProponent\u003c\/i\u003e through its blistering 6 minutes, backed by disembodied voices calling out from the ether. \u003ci\u003ePacer\u003c\/i\u003e rounds out the sequence with its steady, controlled build-up, before ejecting the surplus percussion \u0026amp; dropping the listener down a precipice. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFraxinus once again serves up a singular selection of driving futurist techno, built for club-deployment. This time around the intensity is heightened, elements stripped back, rhythms pushed further. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Powerplant","offers":[{"title":"Black | 12\"","offer_id":50441273508171,"sku":"1141171","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/6bb0dfc6-8fb2-4330-9c31-00cdaf880cc1_thumbnail_4096.png?v=1726976173"},{"product_id":"a-spine-evidence","title":"A Spine \/ Evidence","description":"\u003cp\u003eNow grown out of the bedroom and operating as a fully functional band, London via Ukraine's Powerplant follow up last year's \u003ci\u003ePeople In The Sun\u003c\/i\u003e LP with this new 5 track banger. The Devo \/ Tubeway Army \/ Screamers \/ Lost Sounds comparisons are still there but also the weirder tracks are weirder, the faster tracks are faster and is Theo fucking crooning on the opener? One way to find out. To better days! \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTracklisting\u003c\/b\u003e: 1. A Spine 2. Good Time 3. Evidence 4. Prelude 5. Hurtwood\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Static Shock","offers":[{"title":"Green | 7\"","offer_id":50508685508939,"sku":"1092047","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/5c95c74c-948f-4ddf-9680-737460f68e1d_thumbnail_4096.png?v=1727861192"},{"product_id":"people-in-the-sun","title":"People In The Sun","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe London one-man synth and garagepunk project with its first proper full-length release after a few singles and EPs. Imagine something between Screamers meets early Numan\/Tubeway Army and a health dose of DC hardcore. Now on Arcane Dynamics.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Arcane Dynamics","offers":[{"title":"LP - Red","offer_id":51430408880459,"sku":"R4879-7691","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":51430420808011,"sku":"R4879-5094","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/powerplant-2.jpg?v=1741770109"},{"product_id":"crashing-cars","title":"Crashing Cars","description":"\u003cp\u003ePowerplant band leader \u003cstrong\u003eTheo Zhykharyev\u003c\/strong\u003e weightily remarks, \"\u003cem\u003eYou are behind the damn wheel every day and you don’t even know it\u003c\/em\u003e,\" on the reading of his latest single. The London-based project signals a return to the signature formula of marching drum machines and wailing synthesizers, matured by life experiences of prolonged touring.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eCar is life, brother. Sometimes you drive it, other times - the car drives you. And, statistically, we’ll all see the airbags go off sooner than later as a consequence of choices made by us or onto us, consciously or not\u003c\/em\u003e.\" \u003cem\u003eCrashing Cars\u003c\/em\u003e breaks out the gates to the heavy low-end driven dance floor. \"I was listening to a lot of Bladee when I wrote it and needed a similar thick kick to get you moving,\" says Theo. It's an emotionally loaded cannon of a track that will keep you in its grip until it has run its course and told its story.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eYearning for connection unfulfilled rings out through the heartbroken and weeping synth and choir lines. The ever-morphing and dynamic bass works in tandem with razor-sharp guitars. The instrumentation, through combined ‘no looking back’ forward charge and immediacy, conjures a manic and emotional forward momentum, which rings out in the song’s lyrics. The vocal performance ranges from the trademark Powerplant goblin squeaks to more mature, tour-hardened singing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOn a sonic aesthetic level, \u003cem\u003eCrashing Cars\u003c\/em\u003e vibrates in a familiar fashion to Powerplant’s biggest hit \u003cem\u003eDungen\u003c\/em\u003e. However, this time far less playful and harder hitting. Described as the fallout of \"\u003cem\u003eavoiding, chasing and running away\u003c\/em\u003e,\" lyrically it paints a dead end in human relationships concluding it car-crash heading for the scrapyard. The song concludes with a loaded four-line spoken word poetry segment that hangs over the fleeting outro.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe B side of the single, \u003cem\u003eNever Smile\u003c\/em\u003e, rolls the speed back but throws in jangly guitar hooks and bouncy bass lines. Zhykharyev’s vocals sit in a lower register, hence are more stoic and melancholic. If this track had to be a day of the week, it would be a calm, introspective Sunday. With lyrics about looking into evil omens, the sky, and reading people as ‘not something different,’ it paints an ambiguous but heavy conclusion about the world and its people.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt tells a story about circumstantially settling into an identity and playing the assigned part for the convenience of the external world. It’s easier to fit than to stand apart. It's a perfect balance of mid-tempo radio-rock that builds and changes before exploding into a shaggy guitar solo, only to go into an unexpected ethereal outro and this 7”s crescendo.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\"Both of these songs are kinda old now, sitting at around 4 years old. And although I haven’t changed the lyrics since then, I somehow find new meaning in them as time goes on. Being Ukrainian and going into the fourth year of the full-scale Russian invasion back home, the chorus '\u003cem\u003emy death to you - a better price to pay\u003c\/em\u003e' makes a lot of sense looking at how the world powers are trying to spin the devastation of my people for a quick profit and an easier life for themselves. This single coming out now at this very point in my life feels both profound and very ironic. Life never ends,\" summarizes Zhykharyev.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Arcane Dynamics","offers":[{"title":"7\" - White","offer_id":51777715044683,"sku":"R6452-1311","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Powerplant-CrashingCars_c367f015-417a-4e29-a818-95ecb12e657f.jpg?v=1752294253"},{"product_id":"bridge-of-sacrifice","title":"Bridge Of Sacrifice","description":"\u003cp\u003eDarkest clouds have sealed the sky, Powerplant is back and has brewed its strongest release yet. Bridge of Sacrifice emerges from the cauldron - a fun, black metal infused journey through all that is heavy and gothic. Powerplant, the solitary project of Ukraine-born, London-based Theo Zhykharyev, is distinguished by its giddy bass, sizzling synth lines and melancholic vocal hooks. From the lo-fi synth-punk of 2019’s breakout debut album, \u003cem\u003ePeople in the Sun\u003c\/em\u003e to the instrumental 2022 dungeon-synth release, Stump Soup and the kaleidoscoping Grass EP (2023), to last year’s 80’s rock explorations on the moody “Crashing Cars’ 7” and the Michael Mann-inspired Heat EP.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn \u003cem\u003eBridge of Sacrifice\u003c\/em\u003e, Powerplant’s second full-length album, Zhykharyev once again rebrands and reinvents Powerplant as a gothic beast. Zhykharyev’s voice takes centre stage with resolute and dramatic singing, dialled in after years of touring. The familiar Gary Numan-esque synth or early Powerplant works is elaborated with orchestral strings, grand piano and heavenly choirs. Heavy and full drum sound replaces the vintage digital drum machine samples. The musical pallet is further expanded with moving cello performances by Hani Hooper, adding a grotesque cherry on top of this musical cake.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlthough the new release is styled in an eerie, extreme metal fashion, \u003cem\u003eBridge of Sacrifice\u003c\/em\u003e is Powerplant to its core. The tracks on which it runs are founded from approachable pop songwriting, and melodic vocal hooks. The album’s quest for avid genre exploration keeps the musical journey fresh, as it carries you through the depths and extremities of metal-punk, blackgaze, industrial and acoustic campfire folk. New-found malevolence is neutralised by the familiar playfulness and humour of Powerplant, which, mixed like paint, absorb the first time listener in intriguing dichotomy of confronting elements.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePowerplant’s new full length release is full of highlights, as well as twists and turns. Each of the eleven tracks has its own unique aspect, theme and sound. It boldly steps out of the preconceived sonic aesthetics of the moniker, exploring niche corners of music in a more pop foundation. It offers space to mosh, to reflect, to laugh and to dance in a whirlwind of themes and emotions centered round a gothic aesthetic. Feels like Halloween never truly ended and today is October 164th.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Arcane Dynamics","offers":[{"title":"LP - Blue","offer_id":56302364361035,"sku":"R8042-2026","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP - White","offer_id":56302364393803,"sku":"R8042-3635","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":56302364426571,"sku":"R8042-5630","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Tape","offer_id":56302364459339,"sku":"R8042-5746","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Powerplant-BridgeOfSacrifice.jpg?v=1768387819"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/powerplant.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}