In time for the dusking months of the year, a cool breeze swoops down from Kiev, in the form of Bichkraft’s new single, “Ashley,” released a few days ago by Wharf Cat Records. The band recorded the song in NYC, during their last trip to the States this past summer, along with five others they had written back home, and to be released on an EP in 2017. A somewhat brooding melody overshadows the confident and crafty pulsation of mechanic drumming, alive not with blood running through its veins, but rather, shrill electricity. The guitar tones are moody and uncertain (in the best sense), a panorama of a lightning-filled cloud rolling in from the distance.
The periodic throb of sharp, percussive electronics, and the incessant kickdrum add industrial elements to an otherwise perfectly organic being, like an automaton passing as human until it short-circuits and struggles to maintain its fleshy facade. The title name is said not to refer to a specific subject, but just the English name itself and how it makes the band feel, which must be a haunting thought. The vocals, chant-like and prophetic, simultaneously get under the skin while inciting bodily movement. It’s a dance you didn’t know you could, or wanted to, do.
