SINGLE REVIEW: Popstar – AFTERPARTY

Heralding from Minneapolis, Minnesota, is experimental rock two-piece, Popstar. Having spent much of 2023 hitting up venues across the Midwest of America, this year sees the band finally hitting us with their debut EP, ‘OBSCENE’.

In the run-up to it, the outfit have indulged us with the raucous debut single, ‘AFTERPARTY’, and in doing so have issued a challenge to music listeners around the world to ascribe a genre to this cacophonous, hedonistic beast of an anthem. It’s as industrial metal as it is hyper pop, as dance punk as it is electronic rock; it’s pure nightmarish fun from start to finish, refusing to settle on a single easily identifiable sound.

Synthesised hi-hats rattle against booming kick drum hits, whilst crunching, glitching electronics fizzle underneath overblown, shouted vocals. Adrenaline courses through the track’s veins as juggernaut choruses slam into the listener in a violently loud frenzy of chugging riffs; the sonic equivalent of a mosh pit at a rave.

At only 2:15, it’s a brief track, but it packs a serious punch regardless, especially as the track cruises into a second verse marked by thunderous bass that practically swaggers into your headphones. Every element of ‘AFTERPARY’ is so crammed with character, so overblown with effects and distortion, that it’s almost overwhelming, but that’s what makes it so entertaining.

Trying to pin down exactly what genre ‘AFTERPARTY’ is proves difficult, but the track somehow manages to avoid feeling like a total mess, and that is indicative of a band with a real talent and appreciation of experimentation. With Popstar at the helm, ‘OBSCENE’ already promises to be a wild ride of a release; this is a party that you definitely won’t want to stop.

For Fans Of: Ocean Grove, Death From Above 1979, 100 Gecs, Enter Shikari, Knife Party

Follow the band on social media below:

Instagram // Spotify // Bandcamp