""Sorry for fog, I feel self-conscious," Maria Manow of Bassvictim giggles in her slightly broken English, swirls of theatrical smoke obscuring her silvery blue hair, dark top, and thigh-high socks. Her bandmate, the producer Ike Clateman, is somewhere else onstage, cloaked in the haze. The galloping bass of the phonk tribute track "Canary Wharf Drift" kicks off, and a blitz of white lights flashes across hundreds of people jumping so hard the floor wobbles."
"Everyone at the Brooklyn venue Market Hotel is young and hot: girls with tiny bags, tiny shorts, and tall socks, guys in tank tops talking about how they drove in from Bard College. Manow vaults into the crowd to perform "Air on a G String," their first and still maybe best song, where she trills about running with her underwear exposed over slinky-sexy synths."
"Anyone vaguely near the aesthetic gets christened it by fans, including Bassvictim, who were always funnier and more creative than the other modern electroclash revivalists. They're determined to both live up to and nuke these expectations by being as raw as possible. This has translated into freakishly unstable songs that spin from garish wubs and witch folk to lullaby-like purrs. Their knack for samples, melodies, and sculpting moments of bliss is intoxicating."
Bassvictim is a fast-rising London experimental dance-pop duo whose live shows mix theatrical fog, galloping phonk bass, and blinding lights that send crowds jumping and the floor wobbling. Maria Manow performs boldly, vaulting into the crowd and singing suggestive lyrics over slinky synths while producer Ike Clateman manipulates hazy textures onstage. The duo embraces an indie sleaze aesthetic but deliberately subverts and amplifies it with raw, unstable songs that shift from garish wubs and witch folk to lullaby-like purrs. Their skillful use of samples and melodies sculpts intense moments of bliss amid deliberate chaos.
Read at Pitchfork
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