Popsysze are the band from Gdansk who produce their own brand of experimental rock songs, thus somewhat uncharacteristic of this label with its love of dark ambient drones and industrial noise. Quite liked their ETR item from 2024. Today’s record Powięź (ZOHARUM ZOHAR 377-2) apparently (according to press notes) embraces all genres from psychedelic rock to krautrock and post-rock, nodding towards the modes of afro-beat and “desert blues” in passing, and there are additional electronic elements supplementing the basic guitar-bass-drums set-up. I prefer their upbeat rockin’ mode to when they attempt songs in the “slow ballad” mode, and while the guitars form an impressive wall of assault that wouldn’t have felt out of place in Seattle in 1990, the drummer is working far too hard and filling in too many spaces. The singer doesn’t seem very engaged with the lyrics, but it may be because Powięź has an ironic, modernist angle, making oblique comments on social media algorithms and the cybernetic future that awaits humanity. I liked the workmanlike stance of this band I detected on ETR, but here the sound of the record is too plain, leaning too much on digital delay and other effects, the ensemble playing lacking in dynamics. (26/02/2026)
