[engl] Now grown out of the bedroom and operating as a fully functional band, London via Ukraine's POWERPLANT follow up last year's 'People In The Sun' 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!

[engl] After 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. Grass 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.

[engl] Sometimes I am bored of "new bands", sometimes I think will there ever be a band so exciting to bring me to the point of "I have to release this record asap" and sometimes there is just one answer - YES! One of the best synth punk albums that I've listened to in a while (like a long time). London's lo-fi synth punk, 2nd album and what a ripper! I think this record is eggcellent?! For all the eggpunks out there, we did it again! Haven't been this molested by good music in a while the whole album is killer and need to be played loud so everybody can hear it. The London one-man synth and garagepunk project is launching its first proper full-length release after some of its already very delicious singles and EPs. I have to say that Theo Zhykharyev just topped the recent short players with this album. The record is actually just one thing - one complete highlight. Something between Screamers meets early Numan/Tubeway Army and a health dose of DC hardcore. Awesome stuff! Energetic and slightly insane - it's hard not to love it. I think this will end up being one of the albums you whip out when someone claims no one makes great music anymore.

[engl] Powerplant return in 2022 with their long awaited second full length, but things are not quite what you may have been expecting. Started in late 2020 during ‘that’ time and finished this January, Stump Soup finds Powerplant taking the instrumental interludes from previous releases to their natural conclusion and have delivered an 20 track, hour long dungeon synth album. Yes, really. Theo Zhykharyev: “A year ago I landed on all these really cool left field DS releases from the mid 2010s, kind of like egg-punk of the crypt world, and it made me smile because I could go there. New timeline just got weirder, but life's a movie and I wouldn't want to have it any other way.” The album is available as a 60 minute cassette, limited to 300 copies